Squeeze and Marinate

Ok i've just posted my last blog and am determined to keep on top of this one so am starting the next one right now.
Today is our 3rd and last day in Lake Taupo and Tina and I are sooo glad we decided to marinate a bit here, we've not really done much today except mooch about and make future plans for the trip but I think that's all we needed, some time to do nothing.

Unfortnately for my waistline the kiwi's seem to love their bakery/pattiserie/pastry shops and my sweet tooth is litrally
screaming out in pain for gingerbread men, caramel slices, apple strudle, custard twists, cinnamon squares, chocolate brownies and iced buns. I'm going to be honest...i'm not showing much...well, any restraint and seem to be handing over my money and pocketing the sugary goodness before i even know what's going on.
The great carrot cake hunt is something that has developed out of nowhere over the last week, it started back in Sydney when we went to Taronga Zoo and saw a big fat nutty creamy sweet delicious looking wedge of cake behind a glass counter and caved in by buying a piece to share. No joke, that was the best piece of carrot cake i've ever had, everything from the buttercream icing to the walnut pieces sunk deep within the moist sponge was perfect and from that moment on everytime Tina and I see a piece of carrot cake we're compelled to buy it to see if another will ever compare to the Taronga orignal.

Our plans have been changing a fair bit today and we've got our organisational hats on overdrive. As our trip here develops we're looking more and more at our kiwi bus route and how we can make it better by tayloring it to us. Instead of going back up the country via Lake Taupo and finishing in Auckland (which we have paid to do) but will have already seen, we're now only going as far up as Wellington and then leaving the Kiwi bus to fly out of wellington to Melbourne. The only problem with this is that in our frantic rush at the airport on the way out of Oz we bought a flight from Auckland back to Melbourne...
Anyway I won't bore you with the details but we've spoken to Qantas and to cut a long story short we've had to pay an extra $210 fare to change our departure location and date but will gain an extra 5 days to play with in the South Island so it's totally worth it.

The other thing we've been busy planning is our upcoming trip to Nelson and the amazing Abel Tasman National Park. It's a gorgeous piece of coastline on the nothern coast of the south island which Tina and I are going to Kayak along for 3 hours, walk a second section for 3 hours and then finally take a water taxi back to the starting point. It's pretty pricey but these things have to be done...originally we were going to camp overnight and spend 2 days in the park but we're trying to cut costs a little.

Tina's been making me laugh recently, I thought I was bad bringing GHD straightners travelling but she's got straightners too and even managed to dye her hair in the hostel last night! It was hilarious seeing her run between the bathroom and bedroom with the dark dye and clips poking out all over her head haha!
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Now it's Jan 20th and i'm sitting in a hostel in Nelson called Accents on the Park. it was described as 'affordable luxury' by the Lonely Planet and like always we've booked it independantly from the Kiwi Exp so while the rest of the bus has been thrown into a bigger place i'm chilling in a very cute victorian type town house which has been converted really nicely, there's vintage radios and lamps suspended on shelves, a large table and benches carved from local wood and even a full size wulwitzer juke box standing proud in the corner opposite me.
Tomorrow is a 6am early start and we're set to board a coach that will take us an hour up the coast to the National Park where we'll do our kayak, hike and water cruise day.

After leaving Taupo last week we headed down to an amazing little place called River Valley lodge, this was one of the gems I doubt we'd have heard about if we'd not been with the Kiwi Exp as it was so hidden away. In an ideal world i'd have liked to stay another day there but with the itinery more structured than ever and the Kiwi buses booked up days in advance it wasn't possible.
The lodge offered grade 5 rafting which I really wanted to do (but chose to save the pennies) and is built on the very edge of a gorgeous river bank with a sheer grassy cliff face plunging dramatically into the river behind. It had a bit of an adventure vibe to it, there was even a rickety old pulley tray system that you could dangle above the water on and use to pull yourself over to the other side. It needed some good bicep power to work it though!
After 2 weeks i'm pretty used to the dorm situation now and sharing with people isn't half as wierd as i first found it but that night in River Valley I opted for the cheapest option and put myself down to stay in the 'orgy room'(!) for $22.
It's called that because it's basically 2 massive platforms which everyone puts a little matress on and shares like a huge sleepover, i'll never do it again though and can't believe how loud and inconsiderate people are when others are asleep. Mainly all the dutch grrrrr!!

I had planned to do some nice calming meditation by the river in the early morning but that plan went down the drain when I got up and realised i'd left a bag in the hostel at Lake Taupo containing ALL my underwear, socks and bikini's :( :( :(
After the initial panic I called Kiwi Exp and begged for the next driver passing through Taupo to pick it up and bring it
down to me in Nelson....after multiple phone calls I've been told a driver has agreed to get it and bring it down with him but it's fair to say he's less than impressed at having to carry a plastic carrier bag full of girls knickers with him across on the ferry from north to South Island, whoops. I'm just praying he rememebers to pick it up...

After River Valley we headed southbound to the capital city of Wellington, otherwise known as windy Wellington as on something like 174 days of the year it blows at more than 30 knots. This would be great for kite surfing but unfortunately brings bad weather to the city alot of the time, even in summer. Luckily for us it was bright blue sky when we arrived and checked into our YHA hostel for the night.

The next day we stayed in Wellington and walked up Mount Victoria to get some excellent views of the city, after that we went to their pride and joy, the Te Papa museum and saw a great short documentary on some of the more interesting people of New Zealand, their hobbies and what they love about the country.
It was an inspring film, really well made and made me realise how nice it is that the people here have a sense of pride about where they live. They're kind, respectful and take a genuine interest in the people visiting their country which just makes me think 'when shall I come back and use my working visa here???...