Tag: Rotorua

43. Rotorua – Paihia

Saturday, March 23: Cloudy in the morning, a lot of places in fog, clearing somewhat during the day, showers in the evening

Jarrad’s (airbnb, $72.6)

A day for an early start. I had managed to get to bed before 10:00 last night, and was awake @ 5:30 for the alarm. Had the remains of the orange juice, a cup of coffee, then what was left of the milk. Everything packed up OK and I was ready to go by 6:30. Was down at the bus an hour before it left and realised I could have taken one of the city buses down, since they started early enough. Next time set the alarm for 6:00. Read more…

42. Rotorua: Rainbow Springs

Friday, March 22: Cloudy the whole day, although quite variable, a drop or two of rain in the afternoon

Funky Green Voyager (room behind Nick)

Again it was a matter of inserting my breakfast (variation: Chicken herb loaf instead of ham) between the various other guests this morning, and I was packed and had the suitcase and pack in the office well before 10:00

Today I decided I would have a look at the gondolas that go up the hill (Skyline) and also try the kiwi park not far from that, Rainbow Springs. Caught a bus into town and got a transfer ticket for the #1 bus that actually goes out to the place. Bit of a wait in town, and the bus was quite full, but I was soon on the outskirts and on my way to the attractions. Read more…

41. Rotorua: Redwoods

Thursday, March 21: Sunny the whole day, quite warm, a couple of clouds towards evening

Tramping: 13.1 km

Funky Green Voyager (Genevieve)

The kitchen was rather full this morning, but I somehow managed to squeeze my breakfast preparations in between the many French guests. Packing seemed to go quite easily, and just after 9:00 I was looking for destinations for an activity today and saw that a bus could take me (almost) to the Redwoods and was leaving @ 9:48.

Dragged my stuff to the reception and was down at the bus stop in a few minutes. Bus was a little late, but for $2.8 I was at the corner where the Rifle Ridge Road begins in a few minutes. Read more…

40. Rotorua

Wednesday, March 20: Cloudy and colder in the morning becoming clear & sunny by the afternoon

Walking: 8.9 km

Funky Green Voyager (Nick)

Breakfast was self-supplied: OJ, two toasted ham sandwiches (finally impressed by a sandwich toaster that doesn’t leave a mess behind and is otherwise straightforward to clean) and coffee.

Then all the stuff had to be packed up and moved out of the room because consecutive nights in the same room were not on offer. Everything packed up neatly and I was considering what to do with the day and in the process made the acquaintance of Nele, a French woman living in Cork. Read more…

39. Taupo – Rotorua

Tuesday, March 19: Cloudy in the morning, becoming sunny & warm

Funky Green Voyager, 4 Union St, various single rooms, $50

Was up just before the alarm, and Donna was already gone, although Steve seemed to still be around, and moved his car in the driveway. I had the usual breakfast, washed the dishes, decided I had enough time for a shave, and then the rest of the stuff was thrown into the suitcase.

Ready to go @ 9:30, passed one bus driver moving today’s bus to its departure position. Long wait for the buses, and there were three in total, one to Auckland, one to Wellington, and our small one to Rotorua. In the end the bus was full, and the bus driver was about fifteen minutes behind schedule. Anyway the trip was not particularly long, and we were soon in Rotorua and the long trek back down the main road could begin. Was greeted here by Essex and shown my first room (Astrid). Read more…

38. Taupo: Acacia Bay

Monday, March 18: Overcast to begin with, becoming fine, hot & sunny with some active looking cumulus clouds

Cycling: 17.8 km

Donna’s

Today was a day for planning the rest of the trip and trying to get the rest of the planning to set. After a shower and a breakfast of cornflakes & muesli, toast with the last of the tramping butter, OJ, and coffee, I set to work to try to confirm the reservation in Rotorua, and then to see how to get from there to the Far North.

Flights were still available for around $300 – slightly above that if you wanted only an hour’s wait in Auckland, slightly below if a four hour wait was OK. Considering it was the very last minute (and the Saturday was cheaper than the surrounding days) I wonder what it would have cost if I had tried a week ago – as I should have. In any case a 6:45 departure would have meant getting up @ 5:00, and I still would have needed transport to Paihia from Bay of Islands airport, so at this point in time the bus was the last acceptable solution in terms of price v. duration @ $84 – start is @ 7:45, arrival is 17:15. This is @ the limit of decidability. Read more…

37. Taupo: Huka Falls – Aratiatia Rapids

Sunday, March 17: fine, warm, variable cloud

Tramping: 27.8 km

Donna’s

The alarm hadn’t been turned off so I was awake at 6:30, but was able to snooze for an hour or so. The next challenge was breakfast, managed to get everything together except for the toaster, so had a fried muffin instead of a toasted one.

Then a couple of slices of bread were prepared as sandwiches for the walk today, and with all the equipment on board (except for the PLB) I set off for the Aratiatia Rapids. Bit of a walk along the street to begin with, then through the Spa Thermal Park where a disc golf tournament was just beginning and then to the river where there is a freebie hot stream complete with café, toilets and changing rooms. The river has quite a strong current and I thought it might be a nice idea to float down the river a bit, if only for the falls. Read more…

30. New Plymouth: Pukekura Park

Sunday, March 10: Cooler and variably cloudy

Walking: 7.6 km

Paul’s

There was time for a little real shopping (bread, cheese, sausage – the latter two for the tramp) and some of the window variety (mainly to see whether a dollar shop had screw-capped 100 mL containers – have seen some by Sistema, but they appear very bulky) while waiting for the weather reports. Not going to be easy for the tramp, with showers or even heavier rain forecast.

Also started having a look at Taupo and found a place that looked quite nice. Will have to make a list for tonight so that I can see what needs to be done most urgently. Read more…

28. Whanganui – New Plymouth

Friday, March 8: Rain on and off throughout the day

Paul’s (airbnb, $37.6)

Made the acquaintance of Sid & Angela at breakfast this morning, and a discussion of criticality followed – he was an (Indian) epidemiologist in public health, and I never found out what she did, except that she plays the piano rather well, and the upright in the lounge room was in tune. They escaped rather quickly after that and I was left on my own with Marina & Brennagh.

Surprise, surprise was that Dempsey’s had refunded me the full $108 I was asking for. There is a real issue of getting email through to them, though, as mine was already labelled as spam. I deleted my remark on their facebook page and will leave it at that for a while. Read more…

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