Sunbeam Hotels & Lodge Ohakune

... might have been the most yuppie thing I have ever said) Anyways, we started to drive towards Abel Tasman, but then changed our minds. At this point we were about over driving and figured we would take our time through Marlborough wine country and head to Picton for the late ferry to the north island. The stop at some obscure family winery was perfect for a break from the road. Laura had a nice Pinot Noir and I had a world ...

... we elected to do a hot spring cave tour from the boat. This adventure dropped us off on a river bank where we walked through thick mud and ventured to a hot spring river. The river winded through trees and eventually into caves that we could barely fit into. The warm river felt great and the narrow openings were unique and amazing to see. We continued into the jungle-like area to find a water fall ...

... because I have several more walking tramps planned during my trip. When we got back I took a much needed nap and then hung ut with 16 kids in a tiny hostel room shooting the breeze and having a couple of drinks before the bar opened at Midnight (It was Easter Sunday). Despite walking all day the girls and I were dancing up a storm and having a great time. This trip has been amazing so far. It's a lot different from any sort of traveling I've ever done before. Every day ...

... es vom Ufer aus um die Stromschnelle herum...eine gute Entscheidung wie sich spaeter herausstellt...alle anderen sind an dieser Stelle gekentert und und standen komplett durchnaesst und zitternd am Endpunkt im kleinen Village Pipiriki. Durchgefrohren mit absolut kraftlosen Armen werden wir hier wieder vom Shuttlebus aufgepickt, nach insgesamt 3 Tagen auf dem Fluss mit 17 Stunden und 89 Kilometern paddeln durch grossartige Nationalparklandschaft.

... nasemu denicku a modlili se, aby se pocasi do druheho dne aspon trochu umoudrilo. Mezitim jsme si taky posunuli letenku o dalsi tyden a zajistili si karavan na stejnou dobu, bohuzel v Explore More uz nam nemohli prodlouzit najem naseho puvodniho vozitka, a tak jsme si pujcili ten samy model, ale od spolecnosti Cheapa Campa. Moc se nam to nehodilo, protoze to znamenalo, ze uz 3 brezna musime byt v Aucklandu a prehodit si auto, no ale nedalo se nic delat.<br><br ...

... good to us, and the price was right. Subtle difference #1 arose as we entered our assigned room and noticed the lack of bedding...apparently, the campers that generally stay at holiday parks have sleeping bags. As we started making dinner, subtle difference #2 was discovered: holiday parks, unlike backpacker hostels, don't supply pots, pans, dishes and cutlery. With an open package of ground beef in one hand, and uncooked pasta in the ...

... We packed the best way we knew how, with as many high energy snacks, sunscreen and hot-warm clothes we could manage.   The Tongariro Crossing is an Alpine Mountain trek that is 19km and takes between 7 and 8 hours to do.  It is a volcanic mountain and over looks the Red Crater and the Emerald Lakes at it's highest point.   So we began.  It was broken down into sections.  The first was 30 mins until the hut with a rest room.  The second was an hour and a half before the rest room and ...

15/12/08 Wai-O-Thermal Wonderland Park and Ohakune A sharp start this morning in order to leave Rotorua and get to the thermal park on time. This is one of NZs most popular attractions with many a picture postcard featuring the various mud and thermal pools of varying shapes, sizes and colours. First up at 10.15am was to see the Lady Knox Geyser erupt - albeit with the help of some organic soap that is ...

... glad when we got rained off the slopes in the afternoon. I spent the rest of the day trying to sooth my aching body with some good food and a few glasses of wine, whilst Des and Nick spent the evening chuckling about Captain Faceplant's (Emmet's other new nickname, also pretty self explanatory) exploits on the higher slopes. Day two began and I tried to muster some enthusiasm whilst Emmet was clearly growling at the bit to get back up there. I opted ...

... that are otherwise dried up. I luckily arrived just as they did it.) Then drove here, stopping periodically to put the windscreen wipers back together. Campsite not great - too full, I suppose, which means the surroundings will be as good as the map promises, when daylight strikes. (Ruapehu, the nearest mountain, did appear briefly from the rain clouds just before I got here and did look very impressive. Probably too impressive to actually go up, unfortunately.)