Tuesday 28-10-2008, from Rotorua to Taupo

Travel blog about our trip to New Zealand in October/November 2008
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Pieter
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Tuesday 28-10-2008, from Rotorua to Taupo

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28 October 2008 - Taupo, New-Zealand

At last, a steady internet connection, better. You’ve got no idea how important it is for us to take notes and write our stories ( age is catching up on us ) and to hear from the people back home. Wonderful. We enjoy keeping everybody up to date on our travels and this was impossible yesterday.
Pieter was very grumpy about the lack of the promised internet connection and I have called on all the Maori spirits and gods, but that also didn’t work. If it would have worked it would have cost us 8NZ$ per hour :sad1: .
It’s a hole in the ground, the campsite included, that’s all we have to say about it! All is much better and nicer where we’re at right now ( www.taupodebretts.co.nz ) . Just one thing, the shower isn’t getting warm, I just returned from a cold shower. Never mind, it isn’t bad for man, but my back would have loved a warm shower right now. At least I’m wide awake now!! As said, we wanted to get away from the previous campsite and we also didn’t want to see the touristic Maori culture trip. We’re not following the crowd and are very cocky :knip1: .
So what we did was packing up and get away, first to the blue and green lake ( nice, but blueish and greenish … ) after which we left for Whakarewarewa, The Living Maori Village. Here we arrived at 9:30. It all too much to tell, just check out our photos, or check out the website www.whakarewarewa.com here you can see how it all works. We saw groups with a guide walking about – not for us – and the culture thing and meal we also skipped. It costs a fortune and it takes all day. We don’t have that time.
We left around 10:30 for a visit to Wai-o-tapu, also because Dyan urged us to go there. We didn’t regret this visit!! This is what we wanted to see, it’s a “Thermal Wonderland” and that’s no lie. Awesome, we walked the entire trail!! ( 2 hours ). Now we are totally wasted ( Pieter is taking a nap ), but it was all worth the effort. Take a look on www.geyserland.co.nz and of course our photos. Pieter has to sort them, he took over a 150 photos ( when the lens wasn’t all fogged up :lach1: ).
I’m going to take a look at the menu from next door restaurant … we’ve had it with take-out food! See you later ( I’m going to wake up Pieter, otherwise he won’t sleep later …. ZzzzzzZZzZZ ). (M)
I’ll continue, Pieter is busy with the photos …. 175 of them !!!! After the nap and the cold shower we went out to eat and had a wonderful meal at the Terraces Hotel, Restaurant and Bar ( www.terraceshotel.co.nz ) It looked very fancy, but when we asked, casual clothing was no problem at all. It wasn’t very busy, but it’s early in the season. It’s a really nice and trendy ( I hate that word ) place with a stray cat on the terrace winking at us :lach1: . The food was excellent.
Pieter had the NZ salmon and me the NZ fillet steak. All for half the price we pay in NL we’ve our bellies round, all washed down with 2 glasses each of a very very nice NZ Chardonnay, plus we had a wonderful time together. To top it all we got a view of a beautiful sunset, see the after dinner photos.
Well, my head is empty now, maybe Pedro has something to add, although he also is still enjoying the meal! Greetings to everyone and ( hopefully ) see you tomorrow !!!! (M)

Geothermal activities were the theme today and we’ve seen lots of it, it’s magnificent to see what our planet is capable of. The Maori village was nice to see, it’s not very large, but beautiful maintained and on some places we could feel the warmth under our feet. Of course you have to pay to see all these wonders, but it really is worth it. Take a look at the photos although there are just a few, we have taken lots more. Wai-O-Tapu really is worth the money and the effort, it’s a beautiful walk where we passed craters, bubbling water pools in every colour and magnificent deposits of all kind of minerals like arsenic, sulphur, antimony, manganese oxide, phosphor, iron oxides and several mineral salts. Oh wow, the colours dude!

All in all we made a brisk walk, although climbing is somewhat involved. The visitor centre has been completely rebuild 3 years ago and it looks fabulous, with a beautiful shop, clean toilets and a café where they serve really good food. The steak pie and the sandwich with egg salad :sad2: were very tasty and they soon went down the hatch, while sitting on the roofed terrace. After all this we went on our way to Taupo, admiring the views, to set up camp for the night.
It’s a very beautiful campsite, we can’t say it enough, although the water was cold in the shower. I really don’t have very much to tell this time and despite the relative short trip, I’m reasonably tired. Hence the nap on the couch in our luxurious paradise on wheels.
The heater is already started and it probably won’t be long until the eyes will close, we’ll be back tomorrow, depending on a connection to the outside world. (P)

Oh oh, that’s not good, we have a problem with the heater and that’s not what you want with these cold nights. It’s definitely no summer yet … the house mechanic is going to take a closer look. I think it will be alright, because we’ve filled the gas tank yesterday.
We really are very tired and the eyes are starting to close. Thanks to today’s trip we don’t have to go very far tomorrow, which gives us time to recover. We also have no hiking trips of 2 hours plus on the program and the campsite for tomorrow is the one we planned before, which should be a good one as well. Thursday we do have a long haul planned on a route that’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful trips on the Northern Isle, The Forgotten World Highway … promising!
It’s been enough for now, we’re going to tuck in for the night ( and pray for the gas tank ). Oh Tiny ( vMl ) I’ve been thinking about you today, as promised!! Bye everyone, hopefully we’ll be seeing you tomorrow! (M)

PS: This is the second post this day, so check it out so you don’t miss the previous one and miss out on the photos.
Don't put your mouth into motion, before your brain is in gear.
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