1/10/2011 - Tauhara Sunrise Lodge

Hey, so yesterday I wrote a lot about what I'd been up to and there were quite a few pictures, but I thought I'd better tell you all about what I'm doing for the next week or so and how I'm feeling about it.


Becky and Rob are who run Tauhara Sunrise Lodge, Becky runs the lodge full-time whilst Rob is a promoter for CleanEnergy. I'm here through the HelpX programme that I've told you all about before. If you missed it, it's basically work in exchange for food and accommodation. I love it and think it's a great idea especially as it's how I got to meet a lifelong friend in Emma (Hey Emma!) plus it's awesome for saving money. So the deal here is 4 or 5 hours of work a day and I get a lovely little private room (complete with electric blanket!!!) and can eat pretty much anything and get dinner with Rob and Becky. The hotel itself has 2 rooms and a sleep-out cottage and they're all of luxury standard. The two rooms downstairs are gorgeous, but the cottage is something else, I would love to live in it. It's one big room with the bed, mini-kitchen, TV, sofa, and little dining table, then you go through to a fantastic bathroom. Across the wall facing the lake is a gigantic window that gives amazing panoramic views both from the main room and the bathroom, so either from the bed or the big bath, you've got beautiful views. Last night I saw the view in the dark for the first time and it was just as breathtaking with all the sparkling lights. 


Becky serves breakfast every morning, then around 7pm she serves hors d'oeuvres (pretty sure that's spelt wrong) for the guests. Tonight the hotel is empty, which is very unusual, but last night we had a Canadian couple in the downstairs room and a Swiss couple in the cottage, to whom last night we served little lamb burgers with cranberry dressing, mini mince pies and hand cooked crisps with a homemade hummus. Becky really is a wonderful cook.


My work is general stuff, cleaning and straightening up. Aside from that Becky is learning the piano so would like me to teach her some and tonight I'm cooking for the people Becky has coming over for the rugby. I'm liking here and Becky and Rob are very hospitable. 


The only downside is that I'm ill. I have a horrible cold, which is unusual as I'm not prone to getting ill often. I think it's the sudden change in temperature from America to here combined with the fact that I don't have many clothes for cold weather. Becky told me to take the day off to rest today, but I couldn't just sit around so I changed the bed linen and done the bathrooms, just so I felt useful, and I dosed up on Lemsip to power through. I am chilly though, so I've taken to sitting next to the heater whilst I type this and try and upload the final videos to facebook of my Maori night, they're taking an age. I'm looking forward to speaking to both my Mum and Dad tonight because I miss them, especially when I'm ill and want looking after (Mum, some soup would be great right now...) 


So there we are, that's what I'm up to right now, speak to you all soon!

30/9/2011 - Rotorua to Taupo

I'm sorry guys, it's another horribly long post. But this time it's not because I haven't been writing, it's because internet in New Zealand is so expensive! I really resent paying for wifi in hostels, I really really do. Anyway, I'll go for a day-by-day kind of thing.

26/9/2011
I moved hostels, again. I went from Crash palace over to Spa Lodge Backpackers. This was a boring day with not much to write about since it was cold and I had/have a cold so I spent the day watching rubbish TV in the TV room under a blanket. However, I did discover that Jeremy Kyle is shown in NZ. This is good for me, but is it really what we choose to represent us? Jeremy Kyle and Big Fat Gypsy Weddings... it's not looking good is it England? Spa Lodge was a nice hostel, if a little outdated. Actually I think that lent to it's charm.

27/9/2011
I spent today wandering around Rotorua, without any particular aim. I did however end up buying a hoodie, a very smart decision since it's still cold here and I'm really feeling it. Spent a good while trying things on and pretending I had more money than I do. I must have tried on 20 things in Cotton On, to end up buying just 1. This one, in fact. I like it, but more importantly, it's fluffy and warm! I also ended up buying some gloves a hat and a scarf in a sale in Glassons, $5 for all three, and they've already proved their worth.

My hands look like 'The Claw!'

That evening I wrapped up (scarf, hat gloves and hoodie included) and waited to be picked up to go to the Mitai Maori Village on Fairy Springs Road. The shuttle picked me up and the lady driving was so lovely. We stopped at a hotel to pick up some other people, all Australian and headed over to the village. We were the first there and had to wait a while for the others to turn up. We all sat around our tables and the people started piling in. Once everyone was there, our host introduced himself and tried to establish what countries people were from. There were 5 of us from England, a few other nationalities, but 90% of the people there were French. It seems that the French tourists are all together on tour buses that have guides with yellow jackets. So the millions of French boo-ed us 5 English... and then went on to sing their national anthem. Makes me happy that I nicked their wifi signal in LAX airport, pretentious gits. We were told that as the 'visiting tribe' we needed a chief. The man we picked was a 60-odd year old man from Yorkshire! (Take that Frenchies, you're the overwhelming majority and we still beat you, ha!) Maybe it's a little silly, but hearing this man's Yorkshire accent reminded me of my Dad - miss you Dad! I told John this (the Yorkshire man's name) and he and his wife laughed and hugged me, bless them.

We left the tent and headed down to the stream, past the crystal clear water where the bubbling mud was. This was so we could see the warriors come through on the Waka (a 10ft canoe). We lined the edge of the water, I spilt my beer down myself when I nearly fell in and an annoying French woman stood right in front of me. 

Clear streams

Waka

We took a short walk through the village after this and ended up in a big hall, ready for the concert and ceremony where our 'chief' had to present that we're peaceful with a speech "My name is John, I am a Yorkshire man from England, I can offer you tea and Coronation Street..."  I'm not too sure what happened next apart from lots of dancing and shouting which was fascinating. Then the Chief from the Mitai finally spoke some English! He explained to us all about the weaponry, songs and facial tattoos. The whole show was so entertaining and I am totally entranced, just wish the French hadn't started up their anthem singing again.

A traditional Maori hut

The traditional way of cooking, called Hangi, where food is cooked under the ground by the geothermal heat...

... we got a sneak peak at our Hangi on the way into the concert.

After the concert, we went though to eat our Hangi. Now I know this sounds terribly British and picky, but the French do not know how to queue and they're rude! It was buffet style, so there I am waiting patiently when five grown French men push their way past! And they weren't the only ones, it was like a free for all. Could be silly, but I was getting rather annoyed. I ended up sitting at a table of French too, who made no effort to talk to me. That's okay though, I was far too interested in the mixture of food I'd got - chicken, lamb, scalloped potatoes, salad, veg, all kinds! Then for dessert, some trifle and pavlova. Needless to say I was stuffed. This was the end of an amazing evening, and the shuttle took me home.

When I got back to the hostel I was fully prepared to sleep, but from my room I could hear some people in the kitchen, and as I was feeling social I went and introduced myself. I met Robbie from Scotland and Jonas and Matthias from Germany. We moved to the internet room where it was warmer and just chatted for a good couple of hours over some wine. When I finally went to bed I found I had an empty dorm all to myself, lovely, though the couple next door were having sex loudly, again. The joys of hostelling huh?

28/9/2011
I woke up early and spent most of the morning reading, writing in my journal and writing in the visitor book for the hostel.

Feel free to laugh at my middle school standard drawing skills and shameless confessions!

The guys came and found me about midday, since I'd invited myself to go to the Agrodome with them, and after a cup of tea we went off to the bus stop. The bus route was pretty easy to navigate and although it was 15 minutes late, we got there in time for the famed sheep show. One of the guys was telling me how their Granddad had seen the show 17 years ago and they wanted to know if it was the same. Turned out it was. The Agrodome is pretty much a New Zealand version of the Norfolk Show, with sheep and cows and dogs.

Check out this guys hair!

Is this not the happiest sheep you've ever seen? This is my new favourite 'pick-me-up' picture.

The sheep shearing

It was quite an interactive show and the guy who presented it was pretty funny. They got some people up on stage to milk a cow, partake in a sheep auction and I was picked to go up for one thing... we were all given bottles of milk, which we were told were for a drinking competition, not necessarily a lie. So we all held them out in front of us and were told to drink on the count of three. The presenter counted to three and we all lurched, when he shouted for us to stop! Three out of the four of us hadn't actually put the bottle to our mouths, but one man who was obviously very eager to win had and had drank the milk actually meant for the lambs! The lambs were released and the real competition was who could feed the lamb the fastest - I won! I got a mini rugby ball! After the little competition, there was a sheepdog show which was impressive, then we took some pictures with some sheep, and wandered off and saw some emus, then caught the bus back to the hostel. We got back to the hostel after a couple of stops on the way, one for me to play the street piano and one for the supermarket, where the guys laughed at me for having to climb to reach the top shelf. I'd always thought I was pretty tall, but they're massive! 

Victorious! 

Nothing to see here, just some dogs chillin' on top of some sheep.

The shearing shed

That night I decided to finally try the spa pool which was free to guests at the hostel. I went to dip my feet in and it was boiling! Now I know that they're supposed to be really hot, but not so hot that it burns the top layer of skin off! I grabbed the guys for a second opinion, they agreed that it was super hot, but also pointed out a cold water pipe that I hadn't seen and turned it on, duh! We all hung out in the spa pool for a bit, the minerals are supposed to be good for you, then were joined by some American girls from New York who we chatted with for a bit. Had another night of chilling in the internet room, but a lot earlier to bed this time since I had an early start and everyone was tired, especially Robbie since he'd been and done a skydive! Craziness... When I went to bed I found that one of the American girls was snoring very loudly and the couple next door were again being very loud. Surprisingly I slept very well.

29/9/2011

Finally to yesterday, but a lot happened yesterday! Up at 7am, packed and breakfasted, checked out and on the Magic bus by 8.45! Greeted by our driver, Buzz with a hongi, the Maori way of greeting. It's a little like an eskimo kiss but without the shaking of your head, you sort of press your noses together twice. It's supposed to symbolise the sharing of breath and thoughts. Also met Soap, another driver along for the ride. We gathered up a few more passengers and headed down past Lake Rotorua to see some geothermal pits.

This was around 100 degress, Buzz said he used to cook eggs in it when he was a kid.

It was a short stop, so we jumped back on the bus to go back to the YHA to pick up some Irish girls who had overslept. By the time we'd got them, we'd all got acquainted with each other. The four Irish girls, two guys from Switzerland, two guys from Germany, one girl from France and me and another guy from England. We were then on route to the hot mud pools, which we couldn't touch because it would literally take off so much skin that you'd have to have your finger amputated.

For 10.15am we headed over to the Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Park. The man told us all about how it was discovered. There was a hot pool on the site that prisoners from a local prisoners used to wash their clothes in after a day of labour, and one day the big bar of soap they used went into the water and never came back up, they started feeling rumblings and suddenly all this water erupted out of the ground and they ran for it. Turns out, under the ground there are two chasms in the shape of an hour glass, one containing hot water and one containing cold water. The soap had dropped into one of these chasms, causing an imbalance in the temperatures of water, forcing the hot water through the ground in the form of a geyser. Over the years, the sediments around the geyser have built up so the water is put under even more pressure as it shoots out. It was pretty amazing, although all the French were there again, with no concept of sitting so everyone can see and were standing on the benches instead. 

We stopped off at Wai-o-Tapu for half an hour to get soe food and I got chatting to the Irish girls, who were all teachers taking a career break. They had already been to Asia, so gave me some useful tips! Our next stop was the Huka falls, where some of the people got off to have a go on the jetboats whilst the rest of us walked around the falls. Some interesting facts; the Huka falls has the same amount of water as an Olympic sized swimming pool pass over them every 20 seconds and the downforce is so powerful that 8 out of 10 people who try to kayak down them die. In fact they're so powerful that when a cow fell into the water and went over the falls, it didn't surface for two days because it was stuck in the undercurrent. Despite the danger though, just look how beautiful they are.

We went back to pick them up from the jetboat, then stopped for photos with the big Maori mask and on the lookout which gave great views across Taupo. Every time we set off, Buzz played the Haka and we all had to join in. If I don't know the Haka by December then something is seriously wrong. Soap and Buzz took great joy in directing it to the French at the waterfalls lookout. 

(All these 'h' words, haka, huka, hangi, hongi... very confusing.)

Haka faces!

Buzz and I

All the passengers for the day

We got into Taupo at 1.30pm, where Becky picked me up. Becky and Rob live in Acacia Bay, about a 10 minute drive from Taupo, in their hotel Tuahara Sunrise Lodge which is just beautiful. I'll be staying here for a week through HelpX. Yesterday I spent the afternoon mopping, hoovering and weeding with a backdrop of gorgeous views.

After work yesterday, I went to Mulligan's Irish Pub to meet everyone from the bus, and ended up pretty drunk. Cider and wine and beer and jaegerbombs and Gallianos - but I wasn't sick, yay! Had a really good night, and went back to the YHA hostel with Craig and the Irish girls to watch their skydiving videos from the day - terrifying. Got a taxi home about midnight and got into bed to find an electric blanket! If you know me, you know that my electric blanket is one of my favourite things, and Becky had even turned it on for me. Luxury.

30/9/2011

Today was lovely and slow. I had breakfast and spent the day dusting wooden blinds (who knew they could get so dirty?! Or that oen place could have so many...) And then sat down to write this. An hour or so later here I am finishing it off and debating a little dilemma I have, maybe you can all help me.

Basically. I've been considering cutting my trip in Australia in half, so I'm only there for 4 weeks, therefore bringing my coming home date forward a month. This is for two reasons; money (in that I probably don't have enough) and homesickness. It will only cost £50 to change all 6 of my flights, so that's really good, but I'm not sure what to do, because when am I ever going to have this kind of opportunity again? Your opinions would be nice. 

I'm off to eat snacks with Becky and the new guests now!