To River Valley

Leigh and Dan took me back to the Urban Retreat,`where I rejoined the bus for the onward journey to South Island.

We skirted the Lake and then headed south over the mountain range. At Motuoapa it began to rain so was not looking good for our two hour trek in Tongarira Park. We stopped in Tarangi to buy provisions as we would be in a very remote place at River Valley Lodge this evening – 36 hours with no phone network and little internet access.

Next we stopped at Tawhai Falls for a quick look at the beautiful blue water falling over the rocks and cascading down the river. Unfortunately by this time the rain had become quite persistent so we got pretty wet in a very short time.

We stopped at Whakapapa Village where there was a beautiful chateaux and spent some time just looking around the information centre as it was raining harder than ever. It was such a shame as I’m not sure anyone believed me when I told them there was a beautiful range of snow-capped mountains out there. All we could see were soggy tussocks.

Next we had a toilet stop at Waiouru and at last it had stopped raining. After this the countryside became very green and hilly with plentiful sheep and skipping chump chops!

Our final stop was a viewpoint in River Valley where you could see the volcanoes for miles.

We meandered in and out of hills and over streams and creeks for what seemed like miles going deeper and deeper into the valley. We had been told that we would be miles from anywhere but this was just amazing. The countryside was absolutely stunning the further we travelled.

At last we arrived, well almost. A pickup truck was waiting to take our rucksacks leaving us to walk the last 100 meters or so down a very steep hill to the River Valley Lodge. It was certainly quite an ‘alternative’ hostel.

Once settled in our dorms, I’m glad I got a bed in one of those as the other option was 16 in one long room in the roof space with just mattresses on the floor and no sheets, 4 of us girls got out a very complicated jigsaw puzzle while waiting for our evening meal. It was still raining and there was no tv. We had booked a roast dinner this evening for $7. I thought this was very reasonable. The jigsaw was fir trees in the snow, basically a blue area for the sky, a green and white area for the trees and a white area for the snow. It was about 18“ by 24” and we managed to get all the edge done before dinner.

The long refectory table was laid for just 8 of us with a vase of flowers at each end. The food was eventually brought out dish by dish, cauliflower cheese, roast pumpkins, runner beans, mashed potatoes done with mustard and seeds and a huge dish of roast beef chunks. Wow and it was absolutely delicious. There was way too much food for the eight of us.

After dinner I went to bed but some of the others stayed up for Happy Hour. I wanted to get a good night’s sleep ready for my planned activity in the morning.