What Flavour Are You?

Today I left Taupo – I think our bus left at 9.15am, but I’m not too sure, all I know is that I saw a Kiwi Experience bus pull up outside the Hostel 30 minutes before my bus was supposed to arrive, so I shoved everything into my bag and legged it to the bus stop. Turns out it wasn’t actually my bus. My bus was going South and this bus was going North. So I had to sit at the bus until our bus came and it was late, so that was a nice start to the day – I could have had an extra 30 minutes in bed. Which doesn’t seem like a huge amount of time, but here, it really is.

We eventually got on the bus and I sat next to some Canadian guy, who was nice. But let’s just say I wasn’t in the sociable mood. I just wanted to listen to my amazing music, without any distractions. Our first stop was a food stop, so we could get some groceries before we went to River Valley. I purchased pretty much everything that you can microwave or add hot water to. Ready meals are the meals of Kings. Fact. After buying every Pot Noodleish thing I could find I went back to the bus – They don’t actually have Pot Noodles here, but I’ve recently discovered “Saucy Noodles” which are pretty fantastic. Dinner for a Dollar - life is good. Anyway, two boys were late – their punishment for being late was to walk around the bus with their trousers down, but they wouldn’t do it – in fairness, neither would I! Our next stop was a nice, scenic walk. From Hell. Well, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t that good either! It was basically a two hour long walk, which would have been fine, but my feet were still messed up after my walk to Huka Falls, so I wasn’t really enjoying myself that much. Also, the entire place smelt funny. I think it was the trees, but they were really quite disgusting! The “highlight” of this walk was the waterfall where we had lunch. Basically it was a waterfall. We were told we could swim here, but we so couldn’t, the deepest part of the “pool” was below chest level. I gave it a go anyway. The water was freezing and I was the first girl in and the only girl that got properly soaked. I walked right under the waterfall and stood there, with the water hammering on my head. Any brain cells I did have are now, officially, dead. After the “swim” we walked back to the bus, but the walk back was even longer than the walk to the waterfall. There were about a million steps. Well maybe not a million, but there were some serious steps. I do not like steps. I do not like stairs. I like elevators and escalators. I talked to some nice people on this epic walk, so that was nice and I lived to tell the tale, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. All I know is that when we pulled up to the second waterfall that was a “20 minute walk” I sat on the bus, totally content and listened to some lovely music. It would have been nice to see another water fall, but really, I can Google it.

We drove for a good long while, then made a stop to get some “amazing” ice cream. Our driver went on and on about how the “hokey pokey” ice cream is really famous in New Zealand and how it is so yummy. So naturally I got some. It was Pooh Bear. I’ve been eating that since I was a wee nipper and it’s nice, but it’s not exactly mans greatest invention. I also made another discovery. Nobody knows what Pooh Bear ice cream is! Even the English! They don’t have Pooh Bear or Mauds in England! The Irish chap I befriended told me that they don’t even have it down South! Whaaaaaaat? I didn’t know that Pooh Bear was our thing (it’s now Poor Bear, because of copyright apparently, but still)! Yes, the English have heard of Honeycomb Ice Cream, but not Pooh Bear. I don’t think I’ll take Mauds for granted ever again! Another thing that the New Zealanders need to get sorted is their lack of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. They don’t have it here! They have something called “Goodie Gum Drop Ice Cream” which I think is mint ice cream, but with gummy sweets in it instead of chocolate chips. They do have “Orange Chocolate Chip Ice Cream”, which I haven’t tried yet. I will try it, but there is nothing like a good old Mint Choc Chip! Ice cream flavours always remind me of men. You know how people say “you don’t know which flavour is your favourite until you’ve tried them all, well it’s the same with men”. I suppose it makes sense – having a favourite ice cream and a specific type of person you are attracted to. I like Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream. I like ice cream in general and I will give anything a go. I appreciate all flavours, but I always choose Mint, because it’s my favourite. I could spend my life trying all the flavours. But at the end of the day, Mint Choc Chip will always be my favourite and I’m happy with that. I suppose the whole Ice Cream and Men thing does make sense. I’ll try any, but I will always have my favourite and I will always go back to that one. How do you feel about that? Do you agree with the idea of a favourite man and a favourite Ice Cream? Do you like all kinds of Ice Cream or none at all? Do you think I’m bored and typing this to give me something to do?

After our Ice Cream stop, we drove to River Valley Lodge. Basically it’s a Lodge, in a River Valley, hence the name. It was actually really nice! It was all very, cabin in the woods, outdoorsy. Which I really liked! The main part of the Lodge, the dining and living area was really rustic and nice, lots of wood and a big place for a fire in the winter! That night we had a Sunday Dinner, which I was very happy about. It wasn’t as good as my mummy’s, but it did the job. We even had Yorkshire Puds, which were like the Aunt Bessie 3 minute bad boys, so not perfection, but they were very much appreciated. After dinner I did some laundry, had a wee cup of Peppermint tea, read my book and once my clothes were washed and dried, I went to bed! I was in a six bed dorm – there was the choice to sleep in the bunk room, where there is a massive bunk bed, where everyone sleeps, together. Someone I don’t know invading my personal space. No thank you. The people in my room were actually really nice. There was a wee couple from the Isle of White and they were really nice – I didn’t get their names, which I really regret, because they would have been nice people to keep in touch with! There were two Danish girls, twins, they were really nice too and a German guy, who was really attractive and the reason why I chose to sleep in this particular dorm! Sadly he didn’t have much chat. But like I said, I went to bed, which I was slightly nervous about, I was in a bunk bed, but it didn’t have any rails around the side, so I could have rolled right off the bed! I am an active sleeper, but I don’t think I fell out of bed. Falling 6 feet is something I think I would remember.

River Valley has been really nice thus far! Totally isolated, it really is in the middle of nowhere, but I liked it!

xx