Taupo

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. I haven’t had internet access for almost 2 weeks and I haven’t been writing a blog offline – so I’m going to do a couple of posts to get updated (so that I don’t have to write all in one sitting and so that my readers don’t start skimming through just to see the pictures). I’m also going to try putting in a few links here and there – since I haven’t done that in AGES.

Friday 12 September: Drive to Taupo
My last blog was posted very early Friday morning. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch a few hours sleep before someone came knocking on the door for a hostel room. After Maureen got her new tenet squared away we had a nice breakfast and exchanged contact info. I headed out of Hastings with only a few hours sleep, but a good cup of coffee and some porridge in my belly.

Taupo was only a few hours drive away and Andy was going to be working until 5 (well, not working really – but he would be at the horse races on company time until 5!). When I arrived at the Taupo turnoff I drove straight past it and headed towards a trail I had seen on my way to Hastings. I wasn’t sure where the trail lead, but I knew that it was in the woods and that was good enough for me. And man, was I ever right!

The Tangoio Walk was absolutely beautiful. It was just what I needed after a week in the city. I followed a creek through open woods and past a big green hill being grazed by goats. The sky was blue and the breeze was warm. I was so happy to be in the woods again that I was literally hanging off trees!

It was a short walk to reach Te Ana falls. The falls, though not extremely spectacular, blew me away at the time. I was just about shouting in awe as I watched the water cascade over a smooth cliff face and into a perfect pool below. On my way back to the fork in the trail I took the time to climb a tree or two (With such antics, it shouldn't be surprising that I don't get lonely in the woods!).

I followed the trail up to the Tangoio Falls. They were cool in the fact that they were big; but they were so far away that the little Te Ana falls were more impressive. I was undecided as to whether or not to follow the trail further towards the White Pine Bush. I knew the trail just ended in another carpark, but I decided I had the time and I certainly needed the exercise. Just after picking my way through a muddy section I was treated to a trail surrounded by green woody trees and lush fern and palm plants. Eventually I came around the mountain and could see the road (I had heard cars for a good while). I passed through the grassy clearing and into redwood grove! It was beautiful. The trees were SO tall and SO red. I don't think my camera can do it justice.

When the trail started to dip down and out of the forest and decided I would just end up in a carpark. So, for the first time in NZ, I left the trail. I could see a cleared mountain top through the open forest and decided it would be impossible for me to get lost. Part way up the hill I came across an old road. I figured following it would be easier than going straight up the hillside. I shouldn't have been surprised when the road rounded the side of the hill and I was greeted to an expanse of clear cutting. Wow - is that an ugly practice or what? I had been at the top of a clear cut only one other time - Prince of Whales Island in Alaska. At least the kiwi's left a pretense of forest surrounding the site.

After taking a few pictures I headed back the way I came. Through the lovely last stands of redwood, past the fern trees with fronds preparing to unfurl, and beside the gurgling stream accross which the goats were feeding. I ate lunch on the stream edge and then drove straight through to Taupo. When I arrived, around 4, I killed some time making phone calls and texts from the lakes edge and then headed to town. I sipped a red bull and water at a pub while I perused the paper and waited to hear back from Andy. I was just finishing my energy boosting beverage when Andy texted me with the bar he would be at. Andy and I arrived at "The Shed" at the same time so I bought our first round. He was already quite a bit ahead of me on the alcohol consumption - as his company had provided refreshments at the races. Fortunately, Andy had arrived at the races a few hours late. He was well behind some of the co-workers I ended up meeting. All lovely people, but some were a little more loaded than others. After the initial introductions and rounds of "oh, you and Andy are just friends - *wink wink*", I got on with everyone quite well. However, Andy and I left the group at large after 2 beers so that I could drive my car to his place. I was fairly certain the car would be safe, but I wanted to have all my gear nearby so I could just go home and crash after the night was over.

Man, on man - what a good call that ended up being: but that comes later.......

So, after Andy and I cabbed our way back to town we met up with a few remaining coworkers, had some free food, and then moved onto the "S.O.B". Andy's co-worker, Kirsty, knew the bartender and also knew that the bar was closing the next day. All booze had to go. I'm not sure how she managed, but somehow we ended up with a jug of vodka cocktail for $20! (a jug gives you about 4-5 drinks, drinks generally go for $7....). We probably didn't need the 2nd jug that Kirsty ordered for us, but since it was there..... Needless to say, the night was pretty fun. The band got more entertaining the further into the jugs I got, and I chatted with several nice people. Eventually, the bar was nearly empty with only us hard cases left. Everyone was intent on the music - probably 10 people sitting in a semi-circle, including the bartender and bar back. When the musicians finally got tired, we all milled around and chatted for a while before heading home. Andy and I caught a cab back to his house, I grabbed my sleeping bag from my car, and slept very, very hard.

Saturday 13: Walk about Taupo

I knew Andy wouldn't be having a good day when he heard him over the toilet before going to bed and again early, early in the morning. So, when I woke up around 8, I grabbed enough things for a morning out. I figured I'd find a place to eat breakfast and wander back around noon. I certainly didn't expect to end up circling the whole town and seeing coworkers again! If that had been the plan, I would have showered and worn something that wasn't pajamas!

The day was pretty uneventful really. I wandered around town, checked out the market, bought some food, and then found a river to follow. I had no idea that I was following the continuation of the Waikato River! I just knew that I found myself at the end of a trail, standing beside towering cliffs and looking up at a bungy jumping platform. No, I didn't do a jump. I was saving my money for something much more exciting - snowboarding a volcano! I walked back down the river and up to the streets that continued above the river. Pretty soon, I heard the sound of an announcer over loudspeakers and figured I was close to the "Day-Night Thriller" mountain bike relay. Andy's company (Cheal) was registered to ride for the full 12 hours! I wandered some of the trails along the river's edge as I gradually neared the event. I had heard it was one of the largest mountain biking events in NZ, but I guess I wasn't really prepared for the mass of tents. Weaving between the rows of tents was the relay course - or at least a section of the course. Each team could only have one rider going at a time, so as a rider passed his/her tent they could stop and give the electronic team tag to the next rider (although some crazys had choosen to do the entire 6 or 12 hour marathon themselves!!!).

I did eventually find the Cheal tent. Andy still wasn't there - though I had recieved a text from him around noon, he was alive and walking. I didn't know most of the people at the tent and the whole event was really quite boring for someone not participating in it, so I didn't stay long. I ended up wandering around the park somemore until meeting up with Andy. Andy wasn't real interested in seeing more of his coworkers or watching bikers pedal past a field of tents, so we headed back into town. We figured we would pick up his car and then get some dinner.

Imagine our surprise when, as we are walking through the parking lot, we find no car!!!!! Yep, that's right, no bloody car!!! Poor Andy! I felt really bad for him - though I was so very, very thankful that it wasn't my car that was missing! I was so glad I had taken the time to move my world elsewhere - as really, my entire life is in my car! Luckily, Andy has had a place for several weeks so most of his essentials were safe at home - and he had picked up a few more things from his car the night we drove mine home. Man, it was really lame. Really surreal. The dumb thing is, it was parked in the same parking lot as the police station! At least we didn't have far to walk to report it!

A picture of "The Yellow Submarine" (Andy's car) and "Jim" (my car) at the Thames backpacker on the Coromandel Peninsula (taken just before Andy and I went on our short road trip)

After talking with the police lady for a bit we decided to get some food and walk home (neither of us wanted to spend money on a cab, despite the fact that we were both really tired of walking). So, we popped into Burgerfuel (yeah, it's fast food - but it's not McD's, Burger King, or KFC) and I treated Andy to a dinner and tried my first veggie burger from the chain - Dang, those things are GREAT!

When we got home, we were both ready for a nap. We both wanted to watch the NZ vs AUS tri-nation rugby game, but it didn't start until 9:30! We had hours to go. I read while Andy did some follow up stuff with the police. We were both dozing by 8:30, so when 9 rolled around we just gave up and went to bed. I felt really lame for missing such a big game, but after a night of drinking and probably a total of 8 hours sleep in 2 nights - I really didn't care how lame I was. There was no way I would have been able to keep my eyes open through the game anyway. I found out the next day that it was a "bloody good game". NZ beat Aus for the cup 28-24!! Go All Blacks!

Sunday 14: SNOWBOARDING

While I was disappointed to miss the great rugby game, I was super glad to be well rested and refreshed Sunday morning. I woke up to sunny skies, but didn't want to get my hopes to far up - as I had been told that if you can't see the mountains accross the lake, then the conditions for snowboarding would be very poor (as you would be navigating in a white-out cloud conditions). I think Andy and I got up around 8, but I'm not sure. When we looked out his lounge window and across the lake, we found that we could see the snow covered mountains just fine!!!! We were going snowboarding!! Andy made up some porridge for breakfast and then we got our selves packed into my car. After stopping for gas, Andy offered to drive so I could watch the mountain get closer and closer.

Taupo (pronounced Toe-poe) sits on the edge of a massive lake (yep, lake Taupo) almost directly opposite 3 massive volcanoes: Tongariro (a flat mountain), Ngāuruhoe (the perfect picture of a cone volcano - made famous as "Mount Doom" in LOTR trilogy) and Ruapehu (a broad massive mountain that we would be playing on). Since we already had a late start to the morning, yet had plenty of time to make it to the resort before 1/2 day tickets were sold, we took our time reaching the mountain, stopping at various scenic lookouts along the way. We stopped at the little ski town of Whakapapa to rent our gear (boards, boots, pants, goggles, gloves), before driving to the Whakapapa resort (one of 2 resorts on Ruapehu). We had to park at the lowest parking lot - and even then we had to park on the side of the road. Supposedly they close the mountain when this parking lot is full -but they were parking lots of people on the side of the road. We caught a free shuttle bus to the top.

Oh man!! What an AMAZING DAY!!!! The pictures pretty much speak for themselves - blue bird day, hardly a cloud in the sky (I ended up with the red sunburned face and neck to prove it!). It was SO warm! This was the first time I've ever had board in just a T-Shirt!!! It was that hot! Though, once we finally reached the top, the wind did require putting my jacket back on. Despite the amount of people filling the carparks and milling around at the lodge, the mountain was relatively empty. We definitely had to stand in lines that, if I had come straight from Juneau, were quite long; but having been to Salt Lake City resorts during New Year's holidays, they weren't rediculous. In fact, one lift had a pretty good run (nice for Andy) and almost no line! I did put off going to the top, top for a bit, because everytime I looked at that lift I would think "I could be at the bottom and riding this lift again by the time I even get on that one!". I never did make it to the absolute top. Unfortunately, I've never used T-bar lifts and my one attempt earlier that day hadn't gone well - though I had a really great laugh. I was prepared to try again at the end of the day, after Andy had left me, but just as I arrived at the end of the very short line the lift stopped. After waiting around for a while, we were told that due to being so close to closing time, and to the fact that there was a semi-concious guy on the line, we would have to down the mountain from there :-(

All in all - the day was absolutely lovely. Andy is just learning to board and I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time by myself, so it was an easy day. I convinced Andy's to get an all mountain pass (I wouldn't let him just hang out on the lower mountain) and ended up dragging him up several lifts he hadn't been on. I think he found some new areas that were perfect intermediate slopes for him to practice on. He did get tired of falling a bit faster than I ended up getting tired of riding (I only had 2 minor, minor falls!!!) so I ended my day by doing several fast and fun runs - even caught some decent air once! I certainly didn't go all out on my only day on the snow. I had no intention of hurting myself or breaking my

camera, so I just enjoyed carving up a perfectly blank mountain (absolutely no trees to play in on a volcano) and laughing with (no, not always at) Andy. The snow was great too! The sun had warmed the runs up enough so they were soft and easily ridden. Some of the shady spots were still icy and crusty, so I am very glad that we didn't spend the time and money getting there first thing in the morning. It was definitely a day to remember, even coming close to rivalling swimming with dolphins (but not quite surpassing that experience!).