Monday, February 8, 2016

Wandering Boots tour Day 9 Booting Warkworth to Taupo




By the numbers
6.6 kms
9,482 steps
The day started off really well as there was no rain in the sky and I was able to have a short wander to get some breakfast. Not many shops were open due to it being the Waitangi Day holiday. I was not worried in the slightest as I was on my way to Taupo via Auckland. The Lodge that I was staying in happened to be the old police station and one of the rooms was the lock up. It would explain the police station. I did watch some TV before leaving on the next part of my epic voyage. There was an interesting show about trains called Locomotion that I watched along with a cooking show before walking off.
The bus did not take long at all though waiting for it to come, I tested to see how fast the internet was for the stationary warehouse and I think it would take too long for the video to upload that I wanted. I even tried on the bus though found using my phone that it would not be possable since it would not allow Youtube videos to be played. The same happened with the Auckland Wifi being not as fast as I thought it would be. The bus took us to another place that I might want to stay another time and that was Orewa. It looks like an interesting place nonetheless. There was no problems again stopping in Auckland and we did get there ten minutes early, which I was happy about though still had to get lunch and find the other bus. The driver told us that we were not allowed to leave our bags outside while going to the loo as certain individuals looked to steal baggage and done so in the past. This was the first time I had heard this message. Plus it looks like all the Intercity bus line have been upgraded in the last two years.

The bus south was actually pretty full especially when it got to Manakau City. I think it was due to people going home from the long weekend, but traffic itself seemed to be pretty light. News reports said the traffic was heavy, but I never seen anything on the roads though could be that I was on the wrong side of the bus. The bus was going all the way to Hastings where it would arrive at 8pm that night. For some it would be a very long ride especially for the driver. At least I did not stay that long on the bus, but long enough. On the way we did stop for a lunch break where the town had heaps of wood carvings. There was a carving of a woodsman with a chainsaw that I wanted to find. The town was Tokoroa and the carvings that had been made in the town were amazing and think that the ones Ifound while on the half hour break were just as good. From there it was not very far to travel to Taupo as it would take less than an hour to arrive. One way to get an estimate of the times to arrive was to look at the intercity timetable for that particular run.

My helpful map did show me the way to where I had to go towards the hostel. It was not that hard really as I found my way there without too much trouble. It is a bed for the next three nights, but have not seen my room buddies though a bra hanging on a window tells me one of the people. Just something random in a mixed room. By the time I sorted myself out it was actually getting late though I sorted out a cruise on the Ernest Kemp that includes the tourist sites. I asked the lady at the desk if she knew about the heritage walks and she thought I meant the Tongariro walk. I knew that was a huge walk and no way would that take an hour or so, but days.  A walk after getting a bite to eat gave me some idea where I actually was. The view on the lake was cloudy, but am hoping I get to take a 3 hour walk sometime in the next two days to a waterfall, but think tomorrow will be out since I am booked on a boat with 10% off. Then the museum calls me to learn more about the area.

No comments:

Post a Comment