March 14 - 10:15 pm

Well this is a pleasant surprise! I'm lying in my bed, in a room all to myself! Oh, and I have a full-sized bed. I should sleep well tonight! Apparently Hamilton isn't much of anything for tourists. There are a few others at my hostel tonight, but not many. It's a few minutes out of town too. I got in around 3:00, and the hostel owner picked me up from the bus station. It's not too far to walk to town, but it would have been tough with my backpack and food. So after settling in, I walked to the city centre. Not a whole lot going on. There's a nice river that runs right through town, so that's probably Hamilton's best feature. Or Dunkin' Donuts. Yes, they have a Dunkin' Donuts! When I saw it I just had to go in. And then I couldn't decide which flavor to get so I bought two. They were scrumdidiliumptious.
Then I found the nearest grocery store to get a few things, and walked back along the river towards "home".
Dinner tonight may ave been my best creation yet. And really quite simple! Spaghetti tossed with olive oil, cheese, salt, pepper, and a few spices from the "free" shelf. Toasted bread on the side. Bellisimo.
There isn't really a good common area lounge here, so I spent my evening in my own room. Enjoying my privacy. Sure feels good.

March 13 - 9 pm

Lesson for today: Be flexible - when I am only booking buses and hostels one or two days in advance, I can't be too set on a specific plan.
Yep. My plan to go to Mt. Maunganui tomorrow isn't going to work out now, unfortunately, because all the hostels are booked through the weekend for some surfing/sporting events. Dang. Cancel my bus ticket. Rework my itinerary. I now have a bus ticket to Hamilton, and a hostel there for a night. From there, I hope to go back to Mt. Manganui, after blackwater rafting in the Waitomo Caves. We'll see how that works out. I spent a lot of my day planning, so I hope it turns out okay.
Anyway, I went zorbing today! Something I wanted to do while I was in NZ. They took me to the top of a hill, I climbed in a big blown up ball, harnessed myself in, and they rolled me down said hill. Quick ride - fun - but I can't say it was $45 fun. Maybe $15 fun. I'd rather do the sky coaster at Lagoon.
Tonight's activity was great though - I went to an authentic Maori cultural dinner/concert/village experience at the Tamaki village. It was really cool. It was a ways out of town, so they provided a bus to take us there. My bus driver, Dennis the Menace, was so hilarious. He sang and made jokes the whole way there and back. Once there, they took us through their village like we were a visiting tribe. Showed us what some of their customs, schooling, training, etc. were like. The haka and hongi and poi balls and lots of "Kia Ora"s. They performed a few songs and dances, and then it was time for the hangi (feast). So much food. So delicious. Buffet-style! I'm sure I ate more than I did at Thanksgiving last year. I tried mussels.. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. Lamb, fish, stuffing, carrots, potatoes.. Then dessert! Pavlova and custard. And then hot chocolate! Hey, I was going to get my money's worth. Best food I've had in a long time. How am I going to go back to peanut butter sandwiches and spaghetti?! I don't want to.
So I guess I'm heading to Hamilton tomorrow. That's where the wind is blowing me. Wish me luck.

March 12 - 9:15 pm

Rotorua is different than I expected, but not in a bad way. The town smells like sulphur. Everywhere. All the time. So there's that. Lots and lots of geothermal activity going on under the ground here! And in the surrounding water!
I got here around noon. Found my hostel, and the woman working at the office gave me a map of the town and showed me a walking track that would take me through tha geothermal park, along the shore through an old Maori village, and continuing along the shore through some more hot pots and such, and ending at the Rotorua museum, which is in a super cool old Tudor-style building, formerly a bath house from the early 1900s.
So after setting into my room, and walking the main shopping street, and eating my PB & h, I started the walk. I got through the park, and ran into 2 German girls I had met in my hostel room earlier in the day. They were headed the same direction as me, so I joined them (call me Holger). They are young girls, like 20, but very nice, and they gave me more suggestions on places to go/see. Through the village, along the waterfront, to the museum. The museum cost $20 so we didn't go in. Just went back to the hostel.
I made dinner - grilled cheese and pumpkin soup again. So yummy! Better than spaghetti. And I headed back to town to walk around some more. Everything was closed (6:45 pm) but I decided to walk back to the museum just to look at the building and surroundings again. The museum stayed open 'til 8 so I figured I could just walk into the lobby area to see the inside. There was just one kid working, and I told him I wasn't coming in because it was too expensive. He said that he would let me in for free, since it was only open for one more hour! I was so excited! I really wanted to see it, but I didn't want to pay $20! So I just hurried through. The building itself was my favorite part. They had a lot of the old bath house stuff still on display, and you could go up on the roof terrace for a really beautiful view. Bonus: it happened to be sunset, which made the view all the better. Magical.
So consequently, I now have to pay it forward to some poor soul, like the kid at the museum did for me. Good karma headed his way.

NZ trivia: Bret from Flight of the Conchords appeared in the short film they show at the museum. I had to ask the kid there if it was him, and he verified. Apparently it was his first paid acting role. Funny