Thursday, February 10, 2011

Day #8. National Park.

"Alroighty folks, I'm gonna pass a hat around and you guys put your 12 dollars in for the BBQ tonight, noice and easay." 
Alistair's voice boomed over the Magic Bus intercom.  Alistair is the bus driver I was telling you about from last time.  The one who talks a lot.  It was 8:00 am.  Way too early.  I didn't sleep well that night.  It was a combination of the 45 minute power nap/caffeine + recurring/constant paranoia of bed bugs + homesickness/missingmyboo-sickness.  At any rate, I stayed up half the night just scratching at imaginary crawly things and listening to music.  Finally I dozed off to Bloc Party…..

As I boarded the bus this morning, Alistair handed me a small piece of paper with some scribbles on it.  "Mr. Gibson wanted you to have this" he said.  It was Peter's e-mail address.  Peter decided to stay another day in Taupo.  That made me a little bit sad :(  I'm gonna miss the old guy.  And who is gonna fetch him his hat every time he charges off without it?

This bus driver of ours is actually super cool.  Turns out he is a kayaking/rafting instructor and, before joining the Magic team, guided whitewater rafting tours in the South island for 13 years.  He's a big fan of California and did a gig up in the Sierra Nevada one summer.  He does talk incessantly, but he is extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and enthusiastic about everything.  (Except for paddle boarding and vegetarianism).  He gave me loads of tips for when I  go to Abel Tasmen and Milford Sound.  I wish I had known him before I ever entered New Zealand as he probably could have planned my entire 25 day itinerary in 30 minutes.  

The drive from Taupo to Waitomo was absolutely gorgeous!  You couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.  We passed lush pastures dotted with cattle and sheep.  I even saw an occasional emu and one llama.  Waitomo is a small town known for its glow worm caves.  I had been advised by my boyfriend's brother that "blackwater rafting" was the thing to do there.  Two other girls from my bus went with me.  Our tour guide, Rodney, was dark-whiskered and had the thickest NZ accent of anyone I'd met yet.  He drove us in a rickety old manual van down to the store house where we put on incredibly thick (cold and damp) wet suits, booties, gum boots (rubber boots), and red hard hats.  Then we took a trek through the pasture, dodging cows and cow patties, before descending a long flight of stairs into the dark cave below.  What is blackwater rafting?  It is one of the coolest things I've ever done!!!  We stomped through mud, observed stalactites and glow-worms hanging from the cave ceiling, crawled on our hands and knees through streams, squeezed through small cave tunnels, swam amongst the eels, and inner-tubed through the murky cave water.  Not to mention the waterfall we jumped off backwards and the steep waterslide at the end!  Rodney had a great sense of humor.  As we stared gaping-mouthed at the glowing worms above us, he went on to tell us that the thing that makes them light up is not their tail or head as most people think… it's their poop!  Our mouths snapped shut instantly :)  He also said that the worms love to eat things that get stuck in their sticky trails - i.e. bugs, spiders, people from California… haha, good one Rodney!  As we floated through the water, the worms looked like thousands of stars twinkling above us.  All of a sudden, we came around a bend to find a pile of bones on the ledge.  Rodney pointed out a human femur and told us that it was found in the pant leg of a wetsuit.  Aaaahhhh!!!!  It was already dark and scary with weird noises everywhere, then he goes and cracks one like that.  These New Zealanders and their humor, I tell ya.  The 3 hour blackwater rafting trip was spectacular, eery, and everything imaginable... the glow worms were beyond magical!  But we were stoked to see the sunshine again :)

We all piled back onto the bus, the hat was passed around, and everyone dished in their 12 bucks for the BBQ later that night.  I thought, for $12 it better be a good dinner!  Alistair talked it up like his homeboy Spud (spelled "Speight" but I just can't deal with that spelling… it's really pronounced "Spud") made a BBQ to be reckoned with.  He even promised, begrudgingly, that a vegetarian option would be available for me if I wanted.  By the time we got to our National Park YHA hostel, we were all STARVING!  We eagerly ran over to Spud's place and when I saw the spread out there on the picnic table I nearly fainted.  Piles of pasta salad with huge chunks of feta, garlic-stuffed olives, and sundered tomatoes!  A huge bowl of mixed greens topped with avocado, tomato, cucumber, red bell pepper, and balsamic dressing!  Fragrant bread fresh and hot out of Spud's bread machine!  Five different sauces - mayo, ketchup, honey mustard, garlic aioli, and chili!  And finally, the grill was loaded with savory meats -- steak, venison, sausage, and veggie bratwurst.  To the starving, deprived backpackers… this was heaven.  To sweeten the deal, Spud told us that he had killed the venison, or "Rudolph" as he called it, that very day!  That was some fresh meat he was serving up.  I asked him how he wrangled it, and he replied "With a rifle."  "Do you own the pub?" I asked him.  "No" he replied, "The bank does and I just manage it for them."  Spud insisted I try a bite of the steak and venison which I did.  He then told me I was the best kind of vegetarian!  Spud looked over everyone with the doting devotion of a parent.  Every time a plate was empty, he'd run over with his meat pan and plop a sausage down, wether you wanted it or not.  He also insisted that everyone had to eat their veggies, and if they snuck away without any salad, he would call them back to the serving line in a very loud voice.  I came back for seconds of everything.  Spud couldn't get over it.  "For a skinny little thing you sure can eat!"  he exclaimed while throwing another veggie link at me.  You got that right, I can eat.  Three veggie brats, half a steak, a bite of venison, 2 servings of pasta salad, 2 servings of green salad, and a slice and a half of bread.

Gotta stock up for that hike tomorrow! :)

Plan: Tongariro Crossing -- the famous 20 km day hike

Budget:  $90 blackwater rafting, $15 produce/water/gatorade, $23 hostel, $10 internet card, $12 killer BBQ

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