New Zealand day 3: Rototua to Taupa, a night out

---

I was happy to have a down day after the marathon day I had. Today I was able to wake up late as the first thing I had to do was transfer to the bus station around noon. So after I woke up I walked to the McDonald’s up the street and got a quick breakfast before doing a little shopping. I need to pick up some souvenirs for the loved ones you know. The coolest thing I found was at a store called Mountain Jade, they sell authentic New Zealand jade pieces, NZ jade is pretty expensive due to the fact that they do not mine in, it is found in rivers and hill sides after rains. The piece I liked were jade dog tags; I already had purchased a different piece earlier, but I decided that I couldn’t live without this one. Next I was off to mail some postcards at the post office, and finally back to the hotel to shower and pack up for the hundredth time.



While I waited for my cab I took some photos of some of the birds at the Rotorua sulfur lake refuge. Nothing too exciting, my cab was there on time and we made our way to the bus station and I hopped onto the bus to Taupo. The weather was cloudy and misty so I slept the hour or so to Taupo. A taxi was there waiting so I tossed my bag to him and we made our way to the Caboose Lodge on Lake Taupo. The Caboose is a cabin style hotel right across the street from the lake, it is still dreary so I didn’t do any sight seeing after check in, I just made my way to the room long enough to drop my bags and headed out to find some lunch. It was about a ten minute walk into town and I was craving pizza. Hell’s Pizza fit the bill so I ordered a pizza and a Coke, sat outside and ate before making my way through town and back to the hotel. One of the most interesting things that I saw was a McDonald’s with a huge airplane with McDonalds written across the side of it. I later found out that the plane an old McDonald’s aviation plane that they had bought and put seats in, so people could eat in there. The cockpit was in tact with plexi-glass shielding it with the history told on little boards around the outside. I thought it was pretty cool anyway.



With it being Friday night, and the fact that I haven’t been out yet I was dead set on having some fun. When I arrived back at my room I relaxed, typed and backed up photos onto my computer. Around 7:00 I made my way to the bar at the restaurant right there at the hotel and had a beer while I uploaded my most recent blog posting. I found out where to go and that people didn’t really head out until after 10:30, if I tried drinking until then I would be a waste. Traveling alone, I don’t really leave myself open like that. Too many bad things can happen, so I’ll only have a couple when I go out. Once I had a shower and was smelling a little more social I walked the 10 minutes to town and found a great little Indian place that I heard was really good. Dinner out of the way I headed to down the main street of bars just peeking inside to see what the night life might be like. It was only ten so I couldn’t quite tell yet. There were a few people inside at the bar in a place called Finn Mac Cuhal’s Irish Pub. I made my way inside and ordered a Steinlager, the beer of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s World Cup Champion Rugby team. I chatted with a couple of the bartenders while I waited for the night to pick up. They let me know that there was a DJ that would be spinning inside and a band that would be outside and that this is going to be the busiest place on in town. Sweet As! (Some Kiwi saying that means “awesome.” The night picked up quickly and of course I made my way to the dance floor. It was fun, I had no lack of willing dance partners. I danced with a couple of girls who had moved to Taupo to get away from Auckland a month ago until they had to head out as they had an early morning. I also met some Swiss girls who were out touring the country, I hung out with them until I was ready for bed around 1:00 am. Pretty boring huh? I was impressed with how many people were willing to dance here, and not just stand there taking up space but actually dancing, sweating, on the floor. Props NZ!

---

Photos

About 8,000 miles from home
There was also a sign: "Toilets, two minutes crawl"