a trip to Mordor

What a day it has been!

Yesterday we were discovering the night life of Wellington... well, there was actually
none, since it was Monday night and everyone probably still hung over from the WE,
so not a lot of people around. The street where all the pubs and bars are on
reminded me a bit of the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, although, no red light and a lot
cleaner and nicer! We found a pretty good Irish Pub though, they are like everywhere
down there. And had some real food .... yeah! No more sandwiches or instant soups
for a change! Then we discovered a bar which had Daiquiries for half price... yep,
they were really good - strong as well, so they did their job! :-)

This morning we ran around Wellington and did some sightseeing. There wasn' t
much either. Oh the cable car ... we rode this for two minutes then the ride ended....
ok, pretty short track! We walked down to the city via the Botanic Gardens, which
were pretty neat, and checked out the Government Buildings. But either than that,
Wellington is a pretty unspectacular city! So off we were towards the North.

Right now we are in Taupo on Lake Taupo. We took the Volcanic Explorer Highway
which goes straight through the National Parks of the volcanos... First it was really
nice, could also have been driving somewhere in the US, looked a bit like the
Carolinas, going to the country side, then there were huge sings, with road conditions
and "Drive with Care" warnings and the road turned into Desert Road... yep, that was
the perfect name for it, because there was nothing there! Reminded me somewhat of
Death Valley, but more scarce. The clouds were really low and it looked a bit spooky.
They used the backdrop for Mordor in L o t Rings... that' s how we felt... going to
Mordor! Straight!

Finally we arrived in Taupo this evening. The hostel is ok, but there are weird people
hanging out. We cooked at the hostel tonight - another first here - and the kitchen
was overflowing with 'kids" ... pretty annoying... Thank god we still have a bottle of
wine in the fridge... that' ll do it! :-)

Tomorrow we' ll probably go white water rafting in the morning... and then we' ll see!