Taupo Central Backpackers

Maybe I overindulged a little too much with the champagne last night. Massive headache today and Marck has an early tee time. AHHHH……where's the Tylenol when you need it??

We’re off to dinner with some long time friends of our’ ...

... to the rest of the group, I've arranged to meet Matteo at the Sydney Opera house on Friday night for dinner and cocktails as he's there then too, and then I went with Ali and some other people to the bar for a few goodbye drinks.
A great great tour - i was really sad to leave this morning. Really love New Zealand and definitely hope to come back sometime. South Island needs to be seen!
Keep reading x

... amp; then Christina got in first with her guide, followed by another girl & I was last with Reno, meaning I had to jump first! It took about 10 mins to get up into the air in our bright pink plane & we made stupid videos for our dvds while on the plane. Reno attached our harnesses together & once we had reached 15,000ft, he pulled open the door & we scooted forwards so that I was sat with my legs hanging ...

... harvest' is sold at the on-site restaurant and diners come from miles around to sample the beautifully tasty and soft meat obviously difficult to experience in many other places than the natural habitat in Malaysia. Yum. A couple of quiet nights in at the very comfortable and welcoming Tiki Lodge hostel were all that was really to follow this excitement. If nothing else we managed to catch up on The Apprentice and see the end of Desperate Housewives!!

... macht alle möglichen Faxen. Einmal geben wir uns im Flug die Hände. Bei ca. 1400m wird der Fallschirm ausgelöst und wir schweben durch die wunderschöne Landschaft. Dass wir uns keine Sorgen machen mussten bestätigte später ein Plakat wo alle Tandemspringer abgebildet waren. Rafa ist mit einem Guinness Buch der Rekorde Spinger und ich mit dem Worldchampion gesprungen, beide schon mehr als 14000 Sprünge hinter sich. Da heute Karfreitag ist und viel ...

... a causa de les aigues geotermals a les roques gegants i tambe hi ha basses de fang, cascades, etc. Molt xulo! Despres d'un bon mocachino, emprenem la marxa de retorn fins a Whakapapa Village. El camping esta just als peus del Tongariro National Park. Un vespre tranquil, amb ganes de fer l'excursio de dema.... quan tenim el primer son: uuuuaaaoooo...uuuaaaaooo... uuuuaaaaoo... renoi una sirena... quina por... quin mal son... 13 ...

... the face in the rock is that of a chief, whereas stripes indicate a high priest. Huge waves plus a small boat, on the other hand, indicate you are about to get very wet. Anyway, the carvings were not nearly as entertaining as watching Errol Flynt's former yacht, Barbary, nearly disappear under the crashing waves. Plus, we appear to have been skippered by the only man brave (or crazy) enough to actually sail all the way to the carvings that day, as even larger vessels turned back half-way.

... a small space. The water in NZ is always so blue and clean looking - really fresh to look at. Also had a quick look at the Honey Hive (some great things in this shop!). Ruth is friends with one of the people that owns this place but unfortunately he wasn't around when we arrived. Lots of great honey products and different types of drinks. Worth a visit. I'll get back to you soon with some of our first outings in Rotorua. Bye for now,William 

... good, I'd be postponed until such time as it was clear etc. With that set, I spent the next day in the internet cafe, reading and generally trying to keep warm and dry! Not a good day! However a group of us who'd arrived together from Rotorua on the 'Magic' bus kept each other company and by the end of te day we were all were booked with the same company to do the sky dive at 10am the next morning. Safetyin numbers! The day of the dive was clear and bright but we were put on ...

... Maybe we can now have white Christmas in New Zealand?



Jo picked up a free magazine and flicked through the job ads as we were eating lunch, found a cafe looking for people and looked up from the mag and the soup - there the cafe was, right next door! So she walked in and got a shift arranged for the next morning, "easy as bonjour" as they say in France. After some ...