Feb 9

Friday, February 9

The morning began early enough around 9 or so. Josh and I started packing but I wanted to let the camera batteries charge up before we left...well, that took forever and they didn't charge up very well....stupid charger.

Josh and I were loaded up and in the car by noon. We brought some groceries and drinks with us since we'd have the kitchen in the hotel suite. Driving out of town, windows down and 80's music on the radio (Queen's "I Want To Break Free" was especially inspiring) now we're going somewhere.

Well, we had the tunes on the radio for a little while at least. Either our car doesn't pick up radio frequency well or NZ is too rural to pick up radio frequency in the countryside. Leaving Palmerston North, you drive through a town called Bulls to get to Lake Taupo. Bulls is themed out to the max since it is named after this animal. Example, the police station is called the "Consta-Bull." There are bulls painted on everything. Cute.

We left Bulls (passing the best billboard we've seen so far..."Peach Teats-Cows Love 'Em") and headed northeast on Highway 1, the main north-south highway on the North Island it runs from Auckland to Wellington. And by main highway, I mean what we'd call a two-lane backroad at home. Apparently, the only four or six lane highways are outside of Auckland and Wellington. This means that all travel in the middle of the North Island takes place on a road that is like the old Highway 71 going to Fayetteville, Arkansas. If there's an accident on this road, it's over for your travel plans.

Fortunately, there were no accidents while we traveled. However, it was close on our part a couple of times. Especially, when we left the flat plains of the Manawatu region and reached the central volcanic plains where Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe are located. Mount Ruapehu is the tallest mountain on the North Island and it's always covered in snow and people ski there from July to October. It's an active volcano. Mount Ngauruhoe is the volcano that stood in as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. It was AWESOME to see such a recognizable volcano...yet somewhat terrifying as well if any of them go ka-boom!

Oh, and the road north of these volcanoes is terrifying for sure! We're talking about twists and turns without guardrails over steep cliffs covered in Jurassic Park like vegetation. Crazy that THIS IS THE MAIN ROAD TO AUCKLAND! I originally thought we could drive to Auckland from Palmerston North (it's 6-7 hours drive). But that's not like driving 6 hours in the states on a flat, major highway. I think we'll be flying to Auckland...and that means a lot coming from someone who hates to fly!

We made it to the town of Taupo which is located on the northeast shore of Lake Taupo. This lake is huge and is actually the largest lake in New Zealand. Our hotel, Clarion Suites Sacred Waters was easy to find-just off the main road and on the lake shore. As we turned into the parking space at the front of the hotel, the car made a horrendous noise. Was that us? I asked. It was. We'll at least we made it to the hotel.

Check in was easy. The guy said, "So, you cashed in some points?" I don't think they like that because they don't get revenue from your stay. He didn't take a credit card imprint and all I had to do was sign a piece of paper. I tried to see if our room number was listed on the page I was signing because I'd requested a lake view room on the highest floor. I don't like people walking above me when I stay at hotels. Clunk, clunk, clunk.

Well, I didn't see our room number, but the guy gave us a key with garage opener on it and told us to pull around to the side of the building. We drove downhill in the driveway and pushed button 1 on the key chain to open the garage door. Josh parked the car as the man, now with a luggage cart, met us in the parking garage. I hoped the car would not squeal as we parked this time.

We parked, and then re-parked to fit, in one parking spot only to be told by the guy when we got out of the car that both parking spots next to each other were ours. Luggage onto the cart, we caught the elevator upstairs. I couldn't see what button the guy pushed but it didn't seem like we'd gone up that far.

But, I guess we had. When we got to the door of our room "B," the guy told us they gave us the room we'd asked for. The highest floor rooms at this place were the Penthouse apartments! The guy didn't fail to tell us that the room rate is normally over $700 NZD per night. Nor did it escape my attention that the apartments in this hotel are for sale and the penthouse we were spending the weekend at was for sale for a cool 1,950,000 NZD. That's 1,335,396.54 USD!

Well, our credit card points have granted Josh and I access to some pretty nice places in the past: 4 nights over New Year's Eve in New York City, a room with a view of the Opera House in Sydney, but this place takes the cake! Not only was it the best place that our points have given us but also it was the best hotel we've EVER stayed at...a title previously held by the Barcelona Princess Hotel.

No doubt about it, one day I am going to build a house based on this floor plan and buy the same smooth, soft carpet that felt like walking on fine sand and the same smooth slate floor in the kitchen. There were skylights in the bathroom, down comforters and pillows on the beds, flat screen tvs in every room, a fresh water plunge pool on the deck...and did I mention this was FREE!

Josh and I started feeling guilty about having all this space for just the two of us. If anyone comes to visit us in New Zealand, we will definitely have to book this place again. Even if we don't get Penthouse B (Penthouse A and C have already sold), we could still book a two bedroom apartment downstairs if it was available. Also, we noted that if you had so much space in a place like this, you'd have to entertain. The home was designed for it.

The only negative was that there was no air conditioning in the unit. There were two fans provided, however. With the lake breeze, it was cool outside but warm inside the apartment so we got the fans going. We unpacked and decided to go for a swim in the lake. Once we walked down to the lake front, less than 100 yards from our door, we realized that this part of the lake was manky and there were ducks all around (fine to look at but not swim with). Plan B.

We walked back to the hotel and swam in the outdoor lap pool. It was very nice but soon those dang bug bites on my feet started itching so I wanted to go upstairs and put calamine lotion on them. Well, the thought of sitting in the plunge pool and having a glass of wine must have over-ridden the itchy feeling on my feet because as soon as we got upstairs, it was plunge pool time!
Sitting in the plunge pool, having a drink overlooking the lake view, I told Josh it was wrong to be in such a nice place. Then, I came to my senses and said if this was wrong, I didn't want to be right!


Next, we had to decide what to do for dinner. We looked in our guide book and brochures but Josh made a valid point: no restaurant would have as good of a view as the view we had from our balcony. True. So, we were off to KFC to get a bucket of chicken for Josh (strips for me-I don't like to see the bone) and some sides. After standing in line, F-O-R-E-V-E-R, it was back to the apartment for a KFC picnic on the patio. And that's when the stupid batteries in the camera stopped working because the stupid charger doesn't work right anymore...so, no pictures of dinner that night!

The chicken strips tasted the same as they do at home, but the instant mashed potatoes were different. And that's how a lot of food here has been. I have an expectation for how something should taste, like KFC mashed potatoes or a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. And the food here doesn't taste bad, it's just a different taste than what I am expecting. So, I'll have to get used to these different tasting versions of things I am used to.

After dinner, Josh and I planned out what we wanted to do the next day. We decided to drive about an hour north to the town of Rotorua and go zorbing...something I've always wanted to do. Think, human in a giant plastic ball rolling down hill. Then, we said we might do the jet boats up the river rapids and check out some of the geothermal pools and nature walks. Maybe get a massage since Josh offered me that as a graduation present last May and I still haven't cashed in!

With a plan in mind, we ran another plunge pool around midnight to sit out and look at the stars. It is amazing how many stars we could see because the lake didn't have any lights on it that blocked out the view. Awesome! This place rules!