April 2-7

Well after returning from Wellington, we heard from Jess and Ike (who were scheduled to come up here and visit the weekend of April 13) that it might be better to get together a week earlier as New Zealanders get Good Friday and Easter Monday off from work. This seemed like a good idea to us.

So, we decided that we would go to the central North Island and check out the volcanos there. I spent April 2-5 planning for this "mini-vacay" as I call it. And if you know me, you know how stressful it would be for me to only have a few days to plan a trip!!! Oh my gosh, I was so stressed about finding accomodation for 4 people and what we were going to do, etc.

We knew that Jess and Ike would come up to Palmy on Friday afternoon because I wouldn't get off from work until 5 pm on Thursday and Josh was going to the Rotary club meeting Thursday night. Okay, Friday night, Jess and Ike could stay with us. Next, where to stay for Saturday and Sunday night?

I looked at so many places, hotels, holiday homes, backpacker hostels. Around the perimeter of the three volcanos there are so many accomodation options. First you have to decide what part of the volcano area are you going to stay at: south, east, north? Then, take into consideration it is going to be Easter break and you're booking your room only 3-4 days in advance so you aren't getting the best selection.

In the end, on Wednesday, I got a phone call from a guy regarding his holiday home "John's House - This House Is Hot!" so checked with Jess and Ike (who we'd been IMing through the week) and we all agreed to go for this 3 bedroom/1 bathroom house on the south end of the volcanic area. Awesome...we have a place to stay. Now, I only hoped it was a good place because I was kind wanting to stay in a home over a hotel so that we could have a washer/dryer and a kitchen to cook in. I didn't want anyone to blame me if the house was bad.

While looking at places to stay and reading about the central North Island, I came across something called the Tongariro Crossing. It was a 11 mile walk across one of the volcanos. Everyone was down to do the hike, known as New Zealand's best one day hike and one of the best one day hikes in the world. We had a plan.

Also during this time, Josh and I got squared away a holiday home rental west of Nelson for the first 5 days of our South Island trip. We were only going to stay 4 nights but they have a stay 5 pay for 4 nights special so we're staying 5 nights. It works out to be about $50 USD/night for our own cottage. See: www.hairyhobbitcottage.co.nz We also are booked to give one of the Nelson Rotary clubs a presentation while were in the area.

Thursday, April 5

Josh brought home this Easter gift from David and Bernice on Thursday night after the Rotary club meeting. That was very thoughtful of them and we love chocolate! While Josh was at the Rotary club meeting, I cleaned the house...we were able to borrow a vaccum cleaner from someone. We also had bought an air mattress and additional bedding to host Jess and Ike and also Josh's parents when they come here in August.

Friday, April 6

Today is Good Friday and unexpectedly (somewhat, considering that it is New Zealand and everything closes early) all the shops are closed when Josh went out in the morning to pick up a few last minute things like paper towels and such before Jess and Ike arrive.

It was so funny because when Josh left the house on Friday morning and came back 10 minutes, I opened the window while he was still outside and asked him "Where's the stuff?" and he said there was no stuff because all the shops were closed. So much for that idea. We got the air mattress blown up and made because we didn't figure we'd want to do that later in the evening.

Jess and Ike arrived around 1 and considering they don't have a cell phone, I think Josh gave them good directions to find the house. We made lunch of hot sandwiches and chips (good thing because I was getting hungry)and then we headed out to show them the sites around Palmerston North.

First, we went to view the windmills. This was the first time Josh and I went out of Palmerston North to specifically view the windmills. It was a nice day and we walked across a big field to reach a viewing area behind a cafe. Very cool.

Next, we drove Jess and Ike through the Manawatu Gorge and went down by the river (where Josh and I had gone before). This time the fence was closed and we thought that was strange, however, when we reached the bottom of the hill we realized why the gate was closed.

There were sheep grazing everywhere! But, every time I'd try to get close, they'd scamper away. We walked along the river, skipped rocks, and played a makeshift game of baseball with rocks and sticks....not recommended regarding safety but still fun and no one got injured.

We hopped back in the car and gave Jess and Ike a tour of downtown Palmerston North (grabbing ice cream at McDonald's along the way). We fed ducks on the Square and I was bitten by a duck which made me scream although it didn't hurt that bad.

Next, we drove out to Himitangi Beach for a quick look. It was low tide so we could walk out really far. A wave came up surprisingly fast as Josh and I were posing for a picture so we got soaking wet but it was fun! We took the posed picture after we got splashed.

We drove back to Palmerston North in time to make dinner and watch American Idol. We made burritos and had chips and salsa for dinner. It was really good. American Idol was just okay and then we played a couple of rounds of Scattergories before trying to get 4 people comfortable on 3 love seats to watch a movie (For Love of the Game, I think).

I fell asleep during the show and then got up to go get in bed.

Saturday, April 7

Josh woke up before me and had some breakfast and got on the computer. I got up around 9:30 or so. Jess and Ike were up a little later. After some breakfast, we were on the way out of Palmerston North at noon...which was funny because that's when we told John we'd be arriving in Ohakune, the town close where his holiday home that we were renting was located.

We made it to the house by 2:15 pm, but John wasn't there so Josh got the house key from where John had told him it would be. Inside the house, it was as the photos had shown and the listing had advertised (although the listing said linen was provided but we had to bring our own bath towels). The house looked great and had a view of Mount Ruapheu from the deck, however, it was a cloudy day so we couldn't see the peak at all.

We went into town to get information from the i-site tourist office. We found out more details about the Tongariro Crossing like what gear you should have (hat, gloves, etc). We didn't have much of the recommended gear but we were still up for the climb. Since the crossing is 11 miles one way, you have to arrange transportation if you don't have two cars. Besides that, we'd heard a lot of recommendations about NOT leaving your cars in the national park car parks because cars are broken into while people are out hiking for the day.

We booked the only shutle that runs from Ohakune to the Tongariro Crossing. Highly recommend Matai shuttle service if you're in the area. Our rental home was 10 minutes out of Ohakune in a town called Rangataua. The shuttle would pick us up at the house at 7:00 so we didn't have to drive into town and leave the car there. It cost $25/person for the round trip shuttle ride. Luckily, we booked the shuttle just in time at 3:25 or so because the i-site closed at 3:30.

After booking the shuttle ride, we went on a drive up Mount Ruapheau in order to see a waterfall (only 5 minutes walk off the road). The waterfall wasn't very impressive considering the water level was so low, however, the view from the mountain was great. We were at km 13 when we stopped to see the waterfall, so we continued up to km 16 where the road ended just to have a look around. The ski lift was closed, however, they were doing some work to get ready for the ski season which begins at the end of June/beginning of July.

Back down the mountain and time to grab some dinner. Most places in town were closed. We agreed to eat at a little cafe that had a variety of options on the menu.

We were so hungry at this point we all just stared into the kitchen waiting for our food. We got some garlic bread to tide us over (which was really like a garlic butter hot dog bun). For our main meal, we all got a different flavor of chicken on rice. Ike and Jess split a lemon pepper chicken, Josh had a curry chicken, and I had black bean chicken. I didn't realize it was going to be cut up chicken, I thought I was ordering a chicken breast. Oh well. Like I said at the time, it was hot and it was food.

After we ate dinner, we had to go to the New World grocery store to buy supplies for the next day. Walking down the road, we noticed how clearly visible Mount Ruapheu had become. We took a couple of pictures while standing in the middle of the street. We needed hiking type food like trail mix and we also needed to buy dinner to make at the house after we finished the hike. We did our shopping and returned to the house to have snacks, watch a movie and play a game of Phase 10.

We watched the Producers and it was an okay show...I had two coffees with dark chocolate melted in the bottom (trying to make my own mocha). It was sooooo delicious but I so do not recommend drinking two cups of coffee before going to bed when you have to try to go to sleep to climb a mountain the following day.

Needless to say, I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned and on top of my caffine keeping me up I was also worried about missing the shuttle or oversleeping. When I did get to sleep, I dreamed that I had overslept!!! Agh!