more New Zealand stuff, then, look you see. well, i did give some warning a few posts ago that it was likely to be a dominant subject for a while. and why not, really, for the place is amazing. yes, a number of selfies, or just normal taken by others pictures of moi feature here, so you've been warned.
under no circumstances would i claim to have been everywhere whilst down in Aotearoa. i was there for north of two weeks, south of three weeks. wouldn't even say that i got to see all on offer at those places i did get to. but yes, once again, what i did see was all beautiful, man. this would then indeed be true of Lake Taupo, where we all spent three (3) or so days.
above is an aspect of the actual lake area, then. yes, presented in normal picture mode for a change. which is likely to become standard, as it seems my beloved Commodore 64 mode camera no longer functions with whatever update my phone has gone done. oh dear. moving on from that and this is near, or actually at, where certain activities (very much) go down. be patient, more below.
where did we stay at Lake Taupo? just about the fanciest hotel there, the name of which i shall not disclose. but it rhymes with Milton. should i ever have the good fortune to go there again, well, i might just be inclined to stay at the place pictured below.
indeed i do remain devout to all things Twin Peaks after all these years. even after the bizarre, patience testing ways of the "revival" series. the impression i got was that this particular hotel was not really of as celebrated stature as where we stayed, but still. Mum asked of me how they could "get away" with calling the place such. so far as i am aware they would only attract the interest of the lawyers of Mr Lynch and contemporaries if they deliberately used imagery or "themes" (the feel, the vibe) from the show, since to be fair "twin peaks" is a bit of a generic term.
highlights of Lake Taupo? just about all of it, really. a particular shout out to a shop which has the word cat in its name, for i got some truly boss bits of tourist things from there. my Uncle, for instance, is very pleased with his tea towel off of there. also thanks to a chemist there what sold me some heavy duty full tilt hardcore eyewash after i had both an incident with some sun cream and an incident where Dad insisted i shove some stuff into already sore eyes which did not help.
exactly why was this a good course? mostly just down to being good fun. there was more requirement than you might think to "fire" your (golf) ball onto a particular hole from a gas or air powered gun. not something that i had tried before (that i can recall) and certainly a plus. more regular holes were as fun as they were challenging.
shops may close at 4pm but the restaurants do not, mind. there were several on the go, couldn't get to them all but the ones we did were sensational. also there were some of them geothermal pool things. i didn't go, Dad did, and said that they were quite hot. oh.
yes, that is me (moi) above, doing a regular tee off. i did, from time to time, question my stylish but not particularly practical choice of all black wardrobe. white would probably have been a more practical shade to wear, for it reflects the heat better, but there we go.
a closer look at that smart dragon on the mountain which forms one hole? with me also in the picture? go on then, here you go, below.
did somebody "win" the golf? yes, as it happens, Dad did. quite comfortably, as i recall. it would be nice to think Mum, Daniel and i finished joint second, or close enough. indeed Katie did wish to come along with us and play, initially. the comforts of the fancy hotel, however, were most seductive and she elected to remain there. as one would.
back to the lake element (or aspect) of Lake Taupo, then. it is the site of some of those "extreme", exciting and partially dangerous sport things. if you are so inclined, go and look at the first image and concentrate on the central part of the pic, where you can see a diving off platform section. no, i did not go and do that.
something else that i did not do at Lake Taupo was the bungy (which i am sure the spell of is meant to be bungee, but bungy it is on the signs there) jump. or the bungy (bungee) swing. above you can see myself, Daniel and Grant (from left to right) considering such a thing. i was exceptionally confident that they would have some weight limit which would, alas, preclude me from having a go. this probably is the kind of thing Grant would have a go at, but not at the price being asked.
no such issues or quarrel for Daniel, mind, who did indeed go full tilt with it and gone done a bungy jump. or bungee jump if, as i suspect, that is the correct spelling.
if you believe the above picture is a particularly striking one of the moment of jump, well, i would agree entirely. obviously no, i did not take it then. not sure who did, perhaps Gill, or even Grant. the latter was trusted with one of several cameras Dad brought along to capture the incident with.
how about a nice bit of video of Daniel doing this bungy jump in (or at) Lake Taupo? the video bit i can most decidedly do for you, but i can't speak on your behalf to say it is nice. for reasons best described as just how i do things, i did indeed video the jump, but in VHS mode.
what's the going rate (as in the price) for a bungee or bungy jump in (at) Lake Taupo? just a little north of NZ$200. it is so that the exchange rate fluctuates somewhat, but at the time of writing that translates into around £100 or so. quite expensive, then. i did suggest to Daniel that there were other things he could do with the same money that were reasonably exciting and probably lasted longer than 11 or so seconds, but he was quite determined. fair play.
one more picture of this jump, then, below. this one was taken by Dad, who went off to position himself to take some quite class pictures of it all.
to be fair you get what you pay for with all of this, by the looks of it. how you jump is entirely up to you, as is the distance you go. should for some reason you wish to jump from the platform, which by the way was 47 meters up, and not get wet they can adjust it so you don't hit the water. for whatever reason Daniel was most keen to hit the water, which is precisely what he did.
you can indeed hit the water of Lake Taupo without jumping from 47 meters up, by the way. there was absolutely no stopping Grant having a swim in it. i would imagine the many Grant enthusiasts out there shall be particularly pleased with the below image. well, Gillian was delighted to share it and show it off on his behalf, so i am pretty sure the intention was for me to share it here.
do feel free to save that image and admire it all you like. please refrain, however, from using it for immoral or illegal purposes. that's not much to ask of anyone.
practical information is not something i would usually give out, but here we are. i would suggest that Lake Taupo is a stunning place to go for a holiday, but it is not really a "tourist" thing. most, if not all, of the shops close at 4pm, for a start, and there wasn't all that much in the way of light machines. so if you are looking for a place to just take in the beauty of (and bungee jump), here it's at.
right, well, that's that for this. quite a few more things off of New Zealand to showcase here, but all in good time. perhaps i shall mix it up with some other stuff first.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment