Bradshaw'S Bed & Breakfast Taupo

... t that the breaks didn’t work, they did but my hands were to small to really reach or grip them properly. So speed built up, the track wasn’t crowded but there were a few walkers around which I kept considering every time I took a bend knowing my stopping distance was probably quite long.
Luckily/skilfully I avoided hitting anyone and cruised back into town, where I passed the same car that I’d seen stuck in a ditch or ...

... AA road atlas but after seraching for it for a while in the rain and a steamy window we gave up! Jon was getting annoyed so I sugested we book into a hostel for the night but no. Jon wanted to move on to our next destination - Napier.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O n high way 5, the rain was pouring down but we had manage to get the steamy windscreen under control! about 45 minutes into the journey I spotted cars on the opposite side of the ...

... attractions are. First of all I stopped by the Huka Falls and after that by Aratiatia Rapids, which play significant role in country's hydro-power generation. The flow was pretty strong at both sites. Wairakei Terraces reminded me that I was in thermal zone.
From a lookout point and along the shore there were great views over the three peaks of volcanic Tongariro NP, one of the most spectacular sights in ...

... separated for most of the trip but we do occasionally meet to discuss how weird it is, or take a picture of one another. We hitch a ride back with another couple who are just visiting NZ, then go to Brew and get a coffee. I find a free newspaper and gleeful skim through it... certainly never been gleeful about a paper before. Disconnected from home, and news that is dear to me, maybe I crave to know something of the world outside my backpacker bubble. I read about the earthquake in ...

... Phoenix so that it wouldn't rain...now that's ironic. The irony of my short lived ipod was that I always complained that I didn't like ipods because they allow people to tune out the world...and that's what I used mine to do. The irony is that the person who really complained was Kristen...who bought the ipod. But back to the Crossing. We started out on the trail at 8:12 AM. Kristen decided that ...

... have, although they are really just a big hot plate heated by a gas bottle - none of that inconvenient smoke! Steven, now in his new phase, went down to sleep well and Yvonne and D talked pubs and Wetherspoons reminiscences and Yvonne had too much vodka! (D's drink misdemeanour has not been described - but it happened in Sydney!) The next day, despite Yvonne feeling under the weather, we visited the Huka Falls, a local dam and the rapids it ...

it was definitely a LONG driving day.. it took us about 8 hours to get from wellington up to lake taupo, the "sky diving capital of the world" and NZ's largest lake. the drive up, although beautiful was long. but regardless of the length, i would highly recommend it.. we drove up the main highway before verring off at tongariro national park. we had initially planned to do the one day tongariro alpine crossing trek, but after some input from ...

... hungrier it is. They stay like this for about 6 months before the pupa stage (a bit like a cocoon). The gnat emerges after about 2 weeks, mates but only lives for about 2-3 days because it has no mouth to feed. We are a bit cold when we emerge but are shipped back to the base where, after being peeled out of our wetsuits, we have tomato soup and bagels. A good trip: highly recommended. At this point, we had intended to head to a the Tongariro National Park to do a ...

... got cancelled due to poor conditions, but to be fair, we were knackered anyway. We went and had an afternoon nap instead. Later on we had a few beers in the hostel bar before our little group decided we would head into town for a few jars. We bumped into the sky diving owner here and he booked us in for 1pm tomorrow - weather permitting. How stupid to book something like that when you've had a drink in a ...

... Champ with a big punch.



We grabbed a very nice pizza on the way home (from a charmingly named establishment as you can see above!), and took it back to our hostel.

When she shut her eyes Katie's eyes wouldn't stop watering due to the sulphur/mud that I mentioned earlier, but ...