Aspen Court Motel Taihape

... 1489;הן יוצאת הסעה: 15:43 ו-17:15. שימו לב כי זמנים אלו דורשי 01; להשלי 01; את ההליכ 92; של הטרק בתשע שעות (בד ...

... plane about Wellington and landed smoothly on the only calm day ever recorded in Wellington (not really, but pretty much) (Photo 2)

Didn't do a huge amount in wellington, went shopping, Candice had a minor meltdown over posting something and forgetting her shopping list!!...what the!
Managed to find everything we wanted (except we forgot hairspray and some other life and death item...nail polish remover I'm told) (Photo 3)
Wellington seems to be a place ...

... a change the weather man actually
got his prediction right and it was another crystal clear day! Arnie was our guide and although
he'd been rafting for about 16 years this was his first run down the river with people as
he had only been there 3 weeks and you have to pass a qualification in order to take people
down the rapids!! Arnie works out in the states for about 30 months earns ridiculous amounts
of money then goes travelling round the world rafting and stuff ...

... here, down to the sewing of handles. The only parts he gets done elsewhere are the casts in which the boats are baked. But these were created from styrofoam molds that Charles carved by hand. I was in charge of aligning fresh pads in the molds, lining them with a sort of cheese cloth for texture and then loading and unloading them to and from teh oven. It is fascinating to see how it all comes together.

Today I went on teh river. I was not ...

... 7 or so. I did make some stops, however, but the time driving was lengthy, nonetheless.

I am constantly amazed by this country. Over the hours of driving, I passed through near-tropical forest (Coromandel), pine-covered slopes (north of Taupo), broad sweeping, agricultural plains (south of Taupo), then I skirted a volcanic mountain range (Tongariro) and then passed through its rain shadow, which was almost a desert with scrub ...

After one last family lunch together with Guss, Morag and freddie, it was off to the farm. The journey offerend some pretty nice scenery, the kind of thing that attracted me to New Zealand in the forst place. Once at the farm all i could think was wow! Well, its all green hills and sheep from here! As we drove to the farm i could not believe my luck. It is better than I had imagined! The house is beautiful, very spacious and homely with lots of room for little people ...

... which was good fun. Zoe was holding on for dear life.

We were meant to leave River valley around 1, but unfortunately the battery on the bus died and we had to wait until the next kiwi bus came so we could steal their bus. The bus didn't arrive until 5, which meant that we were very late getting in to out next destination, Wellington.

... 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 ...

... ladies are the first to finish from the bus. I enjoy it immensely for the scenery and the exercise. 10/02/2009 Im booked into the Tongariro National Park for another night. Unfortunately its pouring with rain so I just end up going to an indoor climbing wall next door with an irish guy called Dave(from the bus). Its great until our hands get tired and we cant hold on anymore.

... including the 'red crater'), lava flows, steam vents, rubble and ash from the 3 volcanoes, emerald lakes, sulphur springs, fields and forests. At times it felt like we had landed on the moon, and even though there were lots of other people on the track, it still felt miles from civilisation. Instead of trying to describe the scenery in any more detail, we'll leave you to look at the photos. We're off to recover now with a well earned bottle of wine and a comfy sofa...