Tomorrow, I do something regardless of weather. Hiking, snowboarding, SOMETHING. Weather continues to be dreadfully bad and the forecast isn’t showing improvement for several more days.
Category Archives: Central Region
Snowboarding is fun!
I didn’t realize it at the time, but October the 10th was Thanksgiving back in Canada. So a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all those that celebrated over the weekend! This is where I spent my Monday:
I had the day off from work. The weather was decent (not raining) and I had the entire day, so I headed straight for Mt. Ruapehu. Except this time I wore proper attire.
The Old Blyth Track
I was tired of waiting for good weather days to go hiking, so after work I decided to hit one of the longer half day tracks in the area – the Old Blyth Track.
In the Shadow of Ruapehu
The sun FINALLY came out to play, after 4 days of drizzle, rain and cloud. My work kept me busy until 1pm today and the ski hills close at 4pm, so instead of rushing up there I instead went for a nearby hike in a forest.
Around Rotorua
After my night on the coast near Whakatane I returned to Rotorua. This time however I opted for a hostel. I didn’t really feel like freezing at night again. Even though it was Friday morning I wasn’t concerned about finding a hostel, I wanted to do some hiking! Along the way there are the Okere Falls. These were actually nothing too impressive, though the nearby Tutea Falls holds a bit more interest:
The road to Whakatane
I had been in Napier for 8 days now – it was time to head out. The morning of my departure I didn’t have a certain direction so I just picked one at relative random given my location – Mt. Ruapehu. I’d try snowboarding in New Zealand before the ski slopes closed. While there a few days, I’d look for my next WWOOF/HelpX host in the centers of Taupo or Rotorua, 1-2 hours to the north of Mt. Ruapehu. As I piled my stuff into my car, my phone rang. It was a call-back from a telephone interview I had for the day before – I got the position, starting in 4 days! Since I’d be working in the shadow of Mt. Ruapehu and would have numerous chances to hit the slopes before the season closed in November, I quickly changed my plans…and checked the weather forecast for Whakatane. You may recall that Whakatane was where I attempted to step foot onto an active marine volcano, but the weather cancelled the tours. Forecast – Sunny, clear, calm winds and warm. Off I went.
