Snow Mountains Trips

03 Sepember 2008
Time: 8.30 a.m.
Itinerary: Auckland -> Rotorua -> Whakapapa -> Ohakune

As the winter is quickly coming to an end, we had to get to the snow! After doing some research online, we set our trip on the 2nd - 4th September. And the weather forecasts were looking pretty good! We needed some transport, so we rented a little yellow car from Exploremore. Damn good rates. $27/day including insurance. We intended to drive down to the mountain, Mount Rapehu and reach there early in the morning to start our skiing. http://www.mtruapehu.com/winter/the-ski-areas/ Its the only commercial ski field in the North Island. There're plenty of ski fields in the South, so we had to head to this one.

Day 01

We started our journey from Auckland and drove down through Rotorua (Stayed overnight), Lake Taupo and to the ski fields. In the beginning of our drive, we were in awe of the surroundings, the green landscape dotted with small lil sheeps. Soon, we realised everywhere is like that. Hahaha. So breathtakingly beautiful. The drive from Auckland to Rotorua wasn't too long.. 2 hrs plus. http://www.rotoruanz.com/ Rotorua is a thermal valley, full of thermal reserves. Once you arrived at this place, you will feel like you're a in different world. Hot steam coming out of the drains, the smell of sulphur everywhere. It takes some getting used to, the smell. The town is shit small, as with most NZ towns. But there are alot of activities, if you have the money. Rafting, Zorbing, bungee, skydiving, mudbaths etc..

Most of the popular thermal reserves are privately owned, because then they probably can take care of the place and prevent people from damaging it. We chose a popular reserve with the most powerful Geyser, Te Puia. Bloody entrance fee is $45 bucks per person. That rocked me hard man. http://www.tepuia.com/ Quite nice lah actually, it includes a Maori performance with the famous 'Haka' and some singing and dancing. After the costly thermal reserve, we went to a free on near the city centre. A place where we had lunch and soaked our legs in the naturally heated pool. Alot of the motels and hostels are actually naturally heated - the floor of the room is hot and steamy.

At Rotorua, we stayed in the best backpacker hostel ever. The Treks Backpacker. http://www.treks.co.nz/ We had actually intended to stay at another hostel, but we drove past this one and it caught our attention. The design is clean and it is very comfortable. The whole place is spotless and all the cutlery and utensils are new. We are so in love with the kitchen. We will definitely stay there again.

Day 02

We woke up early and head to the snow. We drove past the famous Lake Taupo, the lake which is the size of Singapore. We took some photographs at the scenic lookout and its amazingly beautiful. Mount Rapehu actually has 2 ski fields on either side of the mountain; Whakapapa and Turoa. We decide to go to Whakapapa today and Turoa the next day. The drive up the mountain wasn't very long, and definitely is unforgettable. As I drive, the brown sand...and the trees by the road started turning white. From bits of white, to an entire road, to a mountain. Everything is white. We stopped at a carpark and every car around us started gearing up. We were the only ones renting the equipment. Hahha.

It's definitely not a cheap sport; it costs us $130 each for the lift pass, a lesson, all gear. We bought the wrong lesson, we got the advanced lesson but we have not even snowboard before! When we reach the top of the ski lifts, we told the instructor and they got an instructor to teach us, private lesson. Wah... so lucky. Private lessons usually have to pay $30 more. I have tried skiing before and to put it simply, nothing beats snowboarding! Think you have played something extremely fun in your life? Multiply that by 10 you get probably get snowboarding! I'm totally addicted to it. Next time get our own gear and season lift pass. LOL. By the time we finish our lesson, its already close to 1pm. We stayed at the beginners slope for fear that we slide down the cliff. We decide to go down the slope at 3+pm because the lifts closes at 4. We literally rolled down. At every turn, we fell because beginners don't really learn that much of turning left and right. We fell and slided, fell again and slide again, all the way down to the bottom. We were tired but happy, it was the greatest fun we had.

We thought it might be freezing cold at the mountains, but at 2 degrees, and snowboarding, we were sweating tremendously in our jackets! I was all wet when I got into the car. We reluctantly left the snow field and headed down the mountain. As we wanted to try Turoa tomorrow, we have to tavel to Ohakune to find a place to sleep, which is much nearer to the Turoa ski field. Ohakune is the land of the carrots. and probably potatoes. Haha. They produce alot of carrots and they have a huge statue of a carrot near their City Centre.

Day 03

We woke up damn early today, want to get the most of our day. By the time the ski lifts open, we're there already. Today, we're not going to stop. We're just gonna board, board and board.. take lifts up, board down, take lifts again..come down. Yeah! Turoa is a much better ski field! Lesser kids, lesser people and better slopes for us! We experimented at the beginner's area before we decided to take the plunge. We never looked back. Sliding, cutting the snow, falling, flying, we did everything. The boards were heavy but non of that mattered. It was the greatest fun we had in a long long time. We played a full day, got our money's worth and went back with sore knees, ass, hands..everywhere. But with a smile on our faces. Snowboarding rules!

1st Day of Auckland

We are supposed to change planes in Melbourne, a place I miss. If only we can go out.. but that will come at a cost of 100+ each, not including transport. I think maybe next time perhaps, since we will be going next next year. Anyway, the wait at the airport was damn bloody long! 4.5 hours? Or more. What the hell man. The flight delayed slightly too. Changing gates as and when they wish. Bloody hell. I found it difficult to sleep on the chair, because of the overly lighted waiting area. Both of us found a sweet corner with power supply for my laptop; no flights at that time. By the time we woke up, its full of people! We seemed like idiots taking up the entire stretch of seating.

Anyway, 2 or 3 flights of people passed us before it's our turn. We waited eagerly to board. Only to find a sneaky looking indian at our window seat, claiming that C is the window seat. We got the air stewardess to get him to get the hell back to his aisle seat. I don't think he has taken the plane before, because when the person in front lean his seat down, he tapped his shoulders and signalled him move the seat up. What freedom does he has over that? And that idiot obliged too. What the. During the flight, he keeps talking shit to me, I don't understand a word he is saying. I just kept replying.. "ya..Ya..." Whatever.

Funny thing is, the air stewardess asked him if he wanted fish or beef. He said he want vegetarian food. That's a special order btw, gotta do it before the flight. The stewardess gave him the fish and he asked me what is it. I said "FISH" and he told me it isn't, it doesn't taste like it. I just ignored him. I found him emptying his sugar packs into his mouth later into the flight, asking for more when he wanted. Aeroplane sugar sure tastes better eh?

We landed in Auckland airport at around 1700 (23 July 2008). We walked out of the arrival hall and saw big group of people holding flowers, big cards, waiting eagerly for their friends. We looked around, searching for our names, if there were anyone to fetch us. No one. So sad :( We walked out of Gate 9 to catch the Airbus to the City Centre. The sky is dark, the wind is strong. We paid $14 for the damned bus because we got a discount voucher of $1 from http://www.airbus.co.nz/cheap-airport-bus-transfer/171/Special+Deals.aspxus-transfer/171/Special+Deals.aspx Not too bad, $2 savings for 2 of us. It was a long long ride to the city, a very unfamiliar place.

We alighted at the Queen Street, walked our way up to the Sky Tower, the tallest in NZ. Not really very high. Petronas would have put it to shame. I don't even want to look at it. We walked everywhere - up,down,left,right, searching for our Backpackers - Surf 'n' Snow. http://www.surfandsnow.co.nz/link.htm After what seemed like a long time, we found it. It has a tiny entrance and signboard. We checked in and got our small windowless room. It's about 2.8m x 2 m with a double bed and a fan. Thats all. Nothing else even table..