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New Zealand North Island |
New Zealand was voted top adventure travel destination by Wanderlust magazine last year. This page covers the North Island. Sadly, we'd spent too long in the South Island, it was just irresistably beautiful. This left us just seven days to take in the North Island. We were going to have to be highly selective. We spent a few days in Wellington, and took in the new national museum Te Papa. Mid way up the North Island, we stayed at Rotorua to experience some serious geothermal activity, and then up to the Coromandel Peninsular for a spot of sea kayaking. (This page also includes a Guide to North Island hostels.)
| Wellington | ||
| We had considered getting the train and a ferry to Wellington fom Christchurch, but this would have taken too much time. More to the point, flying is actually cheaper! Wellington is a pleasant enough place, a little run-down, no bigger than Christchurch, but it has a very different feel to it. It's much more cosmopolitan, more commercial. Bars were full of pinstriped people guffawing at each other. There weren't any of them in the south island. | ||
| Where to Stay All of the reports we had read about hostels in Wellington was that they were terrible. "Food should not be allowed within 10km of this place", "This place is worse than a brothel". We opted for a B&B called the Richmond, which seemed like a bargain at $60NZ a night. John, the landlord is an ex-scotsman, a bit weird. He'd suffered horrific burns in a fire a few years ago, but he was ok at heart. |
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| To Be Continued ... | ||
| Guide to North Island Hostels | ||
| We didn't buy any guide books for New Zealand - you don't really need one, there is such a wealth of information available at all of the hotels and hostels in every town., couple that with what you can pick up from just talking to people and you're set. The following is a commentary of hotels and hostels in the North Island taken from a hotel guestbook. All of the hostels featured are within the range of affordability for most budget backpackers. | ||
| Auckland | City
Garden Lodge. "Clean, has nice open fires, quiet" Albert Park - "Best of a bad bunch". "Don't stay in Auckland unless you have to - it's shite" Central Backpackers, Mansell Road. - "Awful, dirty, noisy, rude, horrid" Kiwi Hilton, - "Don't ever go there!", "Fleapit" Ivanhoe - "Smells of piss, dirty" Berlin Lodge - "Just the worst" |
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| Wellington | YHA
- A former hotel, ensuite bathrooms, great location, best place to
stay in Wellington, but book well ahead. Downtown Backpackers - "Old, big and impersonal" "Good bar", Lots of long term unemployed dossers", "Huge, great showers", "Dirty kitchen with peeling paint", "Bed was so hard I couldn't sleep, like being in prison" Trekkers - "Lively", "Noisy drinking den", "Horrid unhygienic kitchen". Rowena's "Full of long-termers therefore a bit cliquey", "Unfriendly, and creepy", "crap". Beethoven's House. "You either love it or hate it." Rosmere Backpackers - "The worst staff I've ever met". "Shit pit" "Not enough toilets, terrible beds, worst staff, bogeys stuck to the walls" |
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| Rotorua | Camp
Site - "New cabins are quite good, ensuite bathrooms, lots of
privacy, shared kitchen. Kiwipaka - "Big and impersonal, free hot pool, quite clean.", "Too big" Rotorua Central. - "Welcoming, clean, a bit pricey", "Book ahead", "Free thermal pool" Spa Lodge - "Very noisy" Green Voyager - "Great hostel, spa, TV room" |
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| Taupo | Rainbow
Lodge - "Brilliant". "Clean, very welcoming, modern"
"Sauna for a small extra charge" Tel 073785754 Berkenhoff Lodge - Nice, free breakfast, ensuite rooms, jacuzzi, bar, pool, volleyball, double room, just $15NZ. Central Backpackers - "a filthy nasty dump" |
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| Napier | Criterion - "In the middle of town, great balconies, friendly, spacious | |
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION - TRAVEL REPORTS TO FOLLOW HERE SOON |
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You are
reading the story of Adrian and Katie's travels through the India and the
Far East between August 1998 and February 1999.
Adrian and Katie have put the rat race on hold for a year to travel the
world.
| Adrian & Katie's World Tour News - New Zealand - 2 of 2 | Last Updated: 26 January 2000 |
| Web Page by Adrian Ball (email: adrian.ball@virgin.net) |
