Kauri Court Motor Lodge Palmerston North

After a good rest in Taupo, I headed out north to the Huka Falls, an impressive array of rapids and waterfalls. I contemplated a swim for a few seconds then came to my senses and took some pictures instead.<br><br>Following Huka Falls, I made my way back through Taupo and then south to Tongariro National Park. Tongariro is a well-known hiking spot and boasts an 18km alpine crossing, which provides views to otherwise hidden crater lakes of various shapes, sizes and ...

... a great cafe, 'fluffy feathers' for a good cafe, 'smooth feathers' for average and 'rubber feet' for somewhere that was awful. Robert Harris cafe gets........wait for it........ Fluffy feathers! It was good but not the best. Coffee wasn't as strong as it could be, the food we had was nice but not spectacular and the cakes were also in the good but not great zone. We had a wander round the shops, I nearly bought a Warriors rugby top which was really cool but I ...

... Labour Organization's 'Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries' (ILO No. 169) defines indigenous peoples as: 'people who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonization or the establishment of present State ...

... and Missouri combined and has a population of just under a million people. It isn't crowded. For me, highlights were bungy jumping, watching Spark muster sheep, and hanging with the seals. Debi says hers are: chasing down the "sunset that didn't happen" to Gillespie Beach, sipping wine in Akaroa, Pancake rock, the seals, and jumping off the Kawarau Bridge. Heading for the North Island on the 1:45 sailing, we upgraded on the InterIslander Ferry Kaitaki to "Kaitaki Plus" Class ...

... Laura) over for dinner in the evening so we were invited to join them. It was a really nice meal and they're all great company. Sunday 6th April: Had a nice breakfast with Richard and Virginia and then Richard dropped us off at Wellington station so that we could catch our bus to Levin, where we were due to wwoof next. It was really rather sad to say goodbye to them and know it would be a long time until the chance of seeing them ...

... with loads of chickens, rabbits, ducks and a few sheep. She is planning on building an Earthship house in the near future but is waiting for planning permission at the moment. We stayed in her caravan, which was a bit too close to the chickens as we got rudely woken every morning at about 5am! Did some thistle grubbing, cut down some massive weeds that had basically become trees, fed the chooks, mended and painted a little ...

... of Tongariro National Park and I was able to see the snow-covered peaks of Ngaurahoe and Ruapehu. Once again they just appeared out of nowhere as I turned a corner, taking my breath away and reminding me how naturally amazing this country is. I've been very lucky on this trip. The weather had been exceptionally good for the time of year and I have encountered very little rain. The scenery has been excellent from wherever I have ...

The drive from Napier to Wellington is over 300km's, and after our detour to 'Tauma' (as I like to call it), it was getting quite late in the afternoon. We decided to stop in Palmerston North for the night, as I was pretty tired of driving. There isn't really much to say about it; the hostel was nice, comfy couches, and the supermarket was near. It also has a Burger Fuel. The only real reason it was interesting was because it's ...

... plan some more of our journey into Asia. We continued our travels through to Tongariro National Park, stopping to take in views of the three Volcanoes that make up the focal point of the park; Mt.Tongariro, Mt.Ruapehu (PIC) and Mt.Ngauruhoe, the latter was used as 'Mt.Doom' in the Lord of the Rings movies (PIC). There are a couple of ways to view the volcanoes close up - either on a scenic helicopter flight (expensive) or via the Tongariro Crossing (a famous and ...

... for students. They now actively recruit foreign students (mainly from Southeast Asia and China) which now make up now make up twelve percent of student body at Massey. They are the largest provider of distance materials in the country, lending over 228,000 items last year. It also serves branches in Auckland and Wellington. The library has about one million volumes, a budget of NZ$13.7 million, and 110 staff (75 of whom are in Palmerston North ...