Express back to Wellington

Back through Auckland which seems to have a way of being overcast for me. Didn't venture far here, so checked out some mindlass action movie.. Transporter 3.

Early next day, Glen and his trusty bus "Denis" take us south back through some already covered ground for some of us, but most onboard are newbies who have just landed in Auckland (near full bus). Back through to Rotorua and Phil, Julie and myself stay at Base Hot Rocks. Just about everyone else stays at Kiwi Packer and Crash Palace, but the $20 overnight was too good to refuse for a Base site. Turns out to be good value, even if was a bit mildewy, however it seems the budget rooms were for the unrenovated ones which we scored. We're not concerned, and wander next door via some food shopping to check out the Lava bar's value offer (Julie later gets our appetite going with her cooking - this was good value too). With heaps of 2 4 1 drinks at already good pricing, we got some predinner drinks in before disovering tonight is a Toga party. Julie gets on to the task and turns the dorm bed sheet (with some help from google on how to make this look the part), some rope from their makeshift clothesline, Julie's sandals, and a wreath made from the bush outfront the bar, and gets me into what turns out to be best dressed (greeted with all hail Ceaser). We go on to score a $100 bar tab with some fine print, but hey, it was still a good deal. Phil, when you read this let me know when you've got the photos to upload here! Thanks to Gemma for the photos.

Early next morning, the bus has thinned out to about 10 people, with most staying on for the local activities in Rotorua. The wind and the late rain seemed to have made the sulfur smell less noticable, so maybe this was good for those who stayed on.

We (Jasmin from South Korea and Matthias from Germany) check out Wai-o-Tapo thermal park on the way back to Taupo for a few hours.

As always, it seems the natural wonders have a lower price ticket and is the stuff to check out. A constant reminder on how thin the earth's surface is at this point and in this area over to Tongariro where the last eruption was in 1995 and Taupo itself just down the road blew up and is described as the largest eruption in human history.



We cruise back from this point via a different route back to Wellington via the highway that runs past Tongariro for a different view of the volcanoes here we climbed last week, although this time they both have snow on them.


From here the last 6 of us are staying in Wellington before heading back over to the south island for where we expect things to get seriously colder...