Blogs from Taupo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 58

Ian and I left Rotorua early in the morning so I could drop him off in Taupo (Toe-Paw) where he booked our hostel (which had the super cool duvet cover). I then turned around and drove back on myself for about half an hour (was nice to be alone in the car actually, I had Fix You blaring from your mix CD Small!) to do the most extreme thing I have done... After remembering how much I love white water rafting and with my last lot of rafting in New Zealand not being that challenging, I decided to do the most extreme thing availiable on white water rapids, which is Sledging. You get given a small plastic sledge which has two handles left and right at the top which you use to pull up your body ... read more

Hello to all. Since my last entry, things have changed quite a bit. I'm now in Taupo, a smaller town in the middle of the North Island. I'm making my way down to the South Island eventually to actually live and work, but taking the scenic route on the way. This place (all over) is absoutley amazing. The landscape is like none other and everywhere you look it's like that. From mountains, to snow capped volcanos, rivers, streams, lakes, waterfalls etc. I did something yesterday that was such a rush... Went Skydiving here in Taupo!! Wow. That's all I can say. Jumped out at 12,000 feet over the lake and mountains with a Tandum master strapped to my back. Once the shoot popped, you felt like you were floating and could see for miles. We did ... read more

Hello from Welly, this is part two of our travel adventure driving down from Auckland to Wellington - sorry I’ve been a bit slow writing this one. Keeping up with World Cup news is more of a priority at the moment. Anyway I restart last month’s adventure from Lake Taupo, the largest freshwater lake in NZ and located bang smack in the middle of the North Island. As with much of the New Zealand countryside it's very beautiful and owes its existence to plate tectonics. Until a couple of thousand years ago it was a blocked up volcano. A subsequent eruption ripped apart the whole mountain, created an enormous crater and covered most of New Zealand in ash. The largest ever recorded eruption, the noise could be heard as far away as China! Anyways this crater ... read more

***DISCLAIMER - I've been drinking with the locals in Taupo since 5PM (it's now 11:30PM), so forgive any typos, inappropriate statements, etc. The bartender kept giving us jager-bombs...pretty much to encourage this unbelievably brash American lady to continue to take her top off (which she did). So, I sit here typing on my hostel computer in Taupo at the second hostel I've ever stayed at (last night was the first)...I really didn't plan to go the hostel route, although I think my fellow Magic Bus travellers would think I was a complete snob if I didn't do it. Actually, it's been really cool...granted, most of the other hostellers are at least 8 years younger than me. Last night, in Rotorua, we got back to the hostel after dinner to find about 75 drunk twenty-somethings crammed in ... read more

Heres a few more pics for ya... ... read more