Action Downunder YHA Taupo

Well well well what have i done thus far I hear you asking? Well my listening minions...bugger all! actually i lie we stopped in a place called Napier which was quite strange, full of Artdeco buildings and odd people (perhaps gays) and had one bar worthy of drinking. It was called something like McMurphys O'Pub of Ireland, and I have never seen a pub try to be so Irish! There were leprechauns all over the walls and guinness posters and old locals called Mick, Paddy and Murphy who all had big ...

well we got the bus from rotorua to taupo yesterday first stop was wai o tape thermal area - this was a really good hour and half walk around taking pictures of the champagne lake and all the other volcanic lakes with their amazing colours. We also saw the lady knox geyser erupt at 10.15 am which it does daily - now thats a bit of a coincidence how it does it at exactly the same time every day dontcha think ? well all was explained when at 10.10 the local consevation officer came along with s...

Well, since the last update not a whole heap has happened, but let me fill you in anyway!. Shortly after arriving Gary and Lee left (3 days to be exact!) after finding they had bugger all money. This just left the original 3 in Auckland attemting to find a job!. After 2 weeks i (we) felt that Auckland had been well and truley 'done' so we decided a quick trip down to Rotorua and Taupo were in order. The original plan was for it just to be me and Brace as Brad was planning to go to Hastings to...

Hello again! So, from Queenstown, and once again under our own steam, we headed for Dunedin, a sizeable town by New Zealand standards on the east coast of the South Island about 3 hours drive from Queenstown. The weather wasn't great and so Dunedin came across as a bit of a drewery place with not much to see or do. We did however like the circular town centre. We found a nice Cambodian restaurant before seeing The Matrix Reloaded in the cinema. The next day we did a tour of Cadbury World, a C...

Drove down a side road to the beautiful Waitike Hot Springs and chilled in the hot pools for a few hours. Bliss! Heard one guy saying he hadn't needed physio after a leg op due to his regular visits here. Bring on the healing! Gorgeous view of the hillside and trees as the sun set whilst we sunk deeper into the hot pool... Upon arriving in the dark, we got settled in the Mulligan's pub with a cheap drink and got advice from the bar staff. 30 minutes later we were booked on to the Tongariro bu...

A quick 1 night stop in Taupo was a huge surprise. I'd spoken to some girls in the hostel in Rotorua about how there didn't seem to be anything to do in Taupo but when I got there I was forced to eat my words. Taupo is New Zealand's largest lake, formed by an eruption in 186AD that was reported to have blocked the sun in China for 3 weeks! Taupo is Mauri tribal land & rented by the New Zealand government for $10million per year so maybe I need to meet these chiefs. The lake is huge & ...

One night in Rotorua that was all and I have to start to get used to it because now it's almost everywhere just one night which means that there's not much time to see the place itself. So we went on with the Magic Bus to the next destination which is now Taupo. Here is New Zealand's biggest lake with a size like whole Singapore. But before we arrived here we passed the Huka Falls where I decided to do a Jet Boat ride to see the water falls more closely. And moreover this Jet Boat also does e...

Greetings, All! I arrived in Hamilton on Wednesday of last week. It was raining and I checked into the first backpackers I found ("The Flying Hedgehog"). I asked for a dorm room and received a room with 8 beds, a full kitchen, and bath (with a bathtub!!) for $20. I was the only one in the room. It was nice change of quietness that I needed. I checked out the next morning though and moved to the YHA down the road to see if I could find some other people. Hamilton is a big city, more spread out...

Left at 6 in the morning from Wanganui to motor up to Whakapapa village on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu. I arrived at 9.20 where I was informed by the lady in the DoC Information Building that the last bus for the crossing had left at 9. I blame it on all of the road works. How many? I am told they are particularly efficient at digging up the roads just before the end of the tax year. The clouds had also decended and I was told by the lady that I did not stand much chance of seeing much up the...