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The Craters Of The Moon
Wellington-> Taupo, 16th-20th December 2001
On the 16th, we woke up early (again) to catch the Kiwi Experience
bus into Taupo. It was a fairly quiet drive between Wellington and
Taupo. The only 'excitement' was when we stopped for a toilet break
near a supermarket.
Nat, Em, Stinge and I decided to quickly pop into the supermarket to
get our sugar fix. The driver said be back by 9:30, but as we
strolled out of the shop at 9:25 we noticed, to our horror, that the
Kiwi Experience. bus, loaded with out kit, was pulling off. We ran
along beside the bus waving our arms everywhere - luckily he
stopped. As we ran breathlessly up to the coach door, the driver
casually opened the doors. He had a big grin on his face and said
that he was playing a joke on us. Ping! Ping! my sides are splitting
(sarcasm!). We clambered aboard and dropped into our seats.
20 minutes down the road, the driver got a phone call. He had REALLY
left 2 people behind (accidentally). So it was 'about turn' and we
drove back to get them.
We made another quick stop for a few people to do the Taupo bungee.
I didn't do it because it was only a pathetic 40-something metres.
I'm a bungee pro now, so I just watched the 'newbie' jumpers scare
themselves silly. I heard someone say that there will be a new
bungee in Colorado (USA) opening soon. 310m. Now that sounds like
fun! I'll have to make a visit there...
We'd decided to camp at the local YHA. It's a great option. It's
only NZ$10 per night (about 3 pounds) between us, you don't need a
YHA card and you can use all the facilities in the hostel! It's
fantastic. We were greeted by a friendly old guy with grey
spectacles and a dimpled red nose who showed us to our camping spot.
Putting the tent up, we noticed the side effect of packing the tent
away when it was still wet a few weeks ago. There were lovely little
patches of speckled black mould dotted all over the surface. Yummy!
Looks like we've got some cleaning to do. Once the tent was up, it
looked OK. A bit saggy, but otherwise OK. So we threw our stuff in,
forgot about the mould and checked out the small town. A mediocre
town with a good selection of shops all gathered quite close
together.
Over the next few days, we spend most of the time chilling mainly
because of rain stopping play. The hostel had a huge, FREE video
library so we made good use of the selection. One night, when we
were watching "Pulp Fiction", a peculiar alarm started sounding.
After a few minutes of looking at each other, we stopped the video
and everyone ambled outside into the car park. It was supposed to be
a fire alarm, and slowly everyone else got the picture!
After standing in the dimly lit car park, just as the mosquitoes
were coming out in force, people started to get a little agitated.
It was obviously a false alarm, but we couldn't go back in until the
alarm was disarmed. 10 minutes later, the alarm was still sounding
and not a lot was happening. One particularly bored person used the
repetitive ringing to make a little rap song while her friend did a
poor attempt at robotic dancing.
We eventually realised that a mosquito must have set off the alarm
so that his friends could feast on our flesh. After another 10
minutes a car drove out and the only lady in the whole town who knew
the code to stop the alarm, jumped out and disarmed it. So, itching
like crazy, we all went back to watch the end of the video.
 Not
being one to sit around all day, while the others were watching more
videos, I decided to go for a mini one day hike. I went for a walk
to 'The Craters of the Moon'. I walked through the foliage, along a
winding path, beside the river. After about 3 hours and almost
giving up, I found it. It was a really spooky place. As you enter
the park, a desolate plain, dotted with scruffy, dying brush
stretches before you. A thin wooden trail runs through the numerous
steaming holes in the ground. Vast clouds of thick white steam shoot
into the sky, obscuring the view. The heat is quite powerful,
especially as you pass near the smaller vents. After wandering
through the barren place, I took a few photos and started the
journey home.
 I
made use of the rainy days by finishing off my postcards and
teaching chess to Stinge and Em. I don't know much, but I taught
them as much as I could and they seemed to develop a real liking for
it. They played for hours and hours!. When the sun appeared briefly,
I made a quick jaunt to the post box and threw all my postcards into
it. Then I remembered I hadn't put an address on the one to my
friend Pete. Oh dear. It was Sunday, so the Post Office was closed.
Luckily, using my initiative, I managed to find out where all the
mail in town goes to. I popped along, and very quickly they had
found it. I added the address and it got home safely a few days
later.
After our few days in Taupo, we decided it time to press on and head
for Roturoa. This town is often called 'Rotten-Roa' for reasons that
would become all to clear...
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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