Blogs from Taupo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 64

Wow, has it been too long. We have had many things happen to us since hobbiton. We have been busy and I will try to remember as much as I can. (head over to dans site for pics www.dp-nz.tk ). From hobbiton we were off to Rotorua. This is basically a tourist paradise. We werent your average tourists though. We didnt have the money to go on the crazy jet boating or the thermal spas. Which by the way smells like ass. Its always nice to walk down the street and and get the smell of rotton eggs. We only stayed the night and were off to Taupo. Its a really nice city and we did spend two nights here. We usually spend more than one night in a place we like. The problem was ... read more

Moving on from Whitianga... We stayed one night in Mount Manganui, which is a picturesque beach town and also a party town once the holidays roll around. It was a very young and hip surfy town, so we fit right in ;) It also has a great little peak, Mount Manganui, just at the end of their main street. It almost seems out of place, standing guard over all the surf shops and dairies (corner stores) and apprently has a great view. (We weren't up for the challenge) We've moved on now to Taupo, the skydiving capital of the world! For us, however, it will act as basecamp for our day hike of the Tongariro Crossing. It's a substantial town with a downtown comprised of more than one street (a big deal for us, down here). ... read more

11.11.05 Today we drove to Taupo. First stop, unfortunately for Andy, was the dentist. His tooth was and still is sore when he eats. We had a walk around the town, a really nice town. Taupo lake is the biggest lake in New Zealand, it is massive! The colour of it is blue and turquoise. They are trying to get it classed as an inland sea. In the distance you can see the mountains, Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe. Andy had a go on the hole in one. This is an island in the lake with 2 holes, if you get a hole in one you win $5000. Never seen such bad shots in my life! The cars were more in danger of getting hit behind us! That night we went to see Saw 2, with some ... read more

I'm writing this diary entry while sat on top of an active volcano - Mount Tongariro to be precise - 1967m above sea level. My bum is starting to burn a bit and I'm having to regularly change cheek just to cool it down. It's around 1800years since Taupo's last major erruption and whether that means another is due or not, I don't know, and don't really care since 'death by being launched into the air by a firey errupting volcano' would look pretty cool on anybodies death certificate. Steam rises from the ground around me, adding to the dramatic alpine vista visible in every direction and the clear aqua-blue sky means with a turn of my head I can see both the West and East coasts of the island from this central peak. The ... read more

Hi everyone! The week after exams was bittersweet, it was tons of fun seeing all my friends in NZ but saying goodbye was difficult. For a 'final hoorah', a bunch of us (Rachel, Liz, Ngaire, Tonja, Corrina, Christian, and me) all went to Lake Taupo to stay at Liz's bach (pronounced batch...it’s a kiwi version of a 'lake house') The Lake is about a fiver hour drive north of Wellington. I hopped into Christian's new car, named "Hektor", and enjoyed the ride. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe, called soul food somewhere in between Welly and Taupo. We passed through the Tongariro National Park and stopped to take pictures of Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Tongariro, and Mt. Ngahroe (spelling?). This area was "Mt. Doom" in Lord of the Rings. The area is one of the ... read more