Tiki Lodge Taupo

Tuesday morning we had to be on the Kiwi Bus at 9am which wasn't too bad. Our driver was Jacqui, she was really nice. We stopped for breakfast somewhere and then carried on the drive to Picton which is where most of us were getting the ferry across to North Island. Teresa and I checked our luggage in and went over to Subway for lunch! Boarding for the ferry was 1pm and we set sail at 1.30pm. It is a 3 hour ferry journey across from Picton to Wellington so I decided to find a row of seats and ...

I had gotten loads of recommendations to do my skydive in Taupo, and had waited to get here, so I was so excited to finally get to do it! the day was fantastic, apparently the best day for skydiving Taupo had seen in a while. Myself and Amy, an English girl I had met on the bus, did it together. I decided to go for 15, 000 ft, as we were told it is the best height for first timers. They say this is because it is so hard for your mind to take in what is happening, the more freefall time you ha...

Before we left the States Amy kept prodding me to let her bring an iphone or crackberry. I adamantly put my foot down, it's done. The last thing I wanted wasto be constantly connected to email, 24/7. I finally broke down.Amy and I came to an understanding Say hello to our little friend, the Asus Eee pc. We paid $381usd at Dick's Electronics, and it's worth every penny. We are converts to this mini computer, and it's Linux operating system. Just as I have feared though, I have barely left my h...

22.19 - I had to take a shower this morning in the interests of hygiene even if they were a little exposed. My plan was to go to the museum in Napier but when I got there, I changed my mind and did some wandering instead! I wanted to know if Cheryl had replied to my e-mail but there was nothing in my inbox. I took a few more photos then I decided I had seen enough of Napier so I went back to prison. My lazy stretch has not ended yet with me watching yet more TV to pass the time until the bus ...

From Christchurch I flew into Wellington. The plane I flew on was tiny, a cigar tube effort with one seat on one side and two on the other. We had beautiful views of the mountains all the way up. The descent into Wellington was interesting. Very bumpy as we were buffeted in the wind howling between the two Islands. We got down safely though. Kate and Adam met me at the airport, the plan being to travel across North Island with them. First stop was the Te Papa museum located in a lovely spot o...

7th April 2009 After a rather sleepless night we were back on the bus at 8am after a flying visit to Wellington and heading north to Taupo. We drove alone the Kapiti coast, which is littered with rugged yet beautiful beaches and small commuter towns. We stopped in Taihape for a toilet break before climbing up to the Central Plateau, home of the Tongariro Natonal Park to Turangi where we stopped for for lunch. It was then just a short drive around the great lake to Taupo, with a brief stop to ...

21st Feb 2008 Not much to say in this entry. Just wanted to add another pin on the map so that you all can keep track of my progress. Today I left Napier on the 1300 Intercity bus to Taupo so that I can catch the Stray bus back to Auckland on the 22nd Feb. Arrived around 1530 and checked into the hostel. That's all for this entry. Cheers, Duncan

hi ya'll well it's been a while since i've written a blog which has a lot to do with not much going on over here. I met ma and pa in Wellington which was delightful, our dinner on the first night cost my weekly food budget which kinda says something about the quality of food i've been dining on. I had a week with them which included some solid hours of sales shopping. Not much really happened there, i got news of shamus's crash in the 28th which kinda proccupied me for a good while. i also st...

We decided to stay in Taupo while doing the crossing. This seemed like a bad move this moringin at 515 when we were trying to get the Sweedes out of bed. The backpackers is called the Tiki Lodge and is very nice. Extremely clean and in a quiet area, but still close to everything. As I mentioned, this morning was an early one, especially early with the late night poker game last night. The Tongoriro crossing is a non-return hike; we start in one place and end in another, so we were at the merc...