New Zealand #5: Hamilton, Taupo & Mt. Ruapehu

[canadian_turtle]

Mood: || Cold
Tune : Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog OST - "Freeze Ray"







June 25: We had some time to sleep in today (yay!) and all refreshed we took the bus to Hamilton (which took about an hour). We had about 2.5 hours there so we had enough time to explore the city. Across from the travel centre was a stop for the free CBD bus, so we headed over there first and stayed on it until we were at the Waikato Museum. The museum had some really awesome modern art exhibitions. There was an exhibition from Mark Mothersbaugh called "Postcard Diaries" which were pop-arty works created on old postcards (and sometimes blown up), very funky. He even had an Andy Warhol portrait.

There was also another exhibition in which ordinary people looked mutated by for instance mirroring one side of their face (see pictures). One of the displays was interactive and kind of had that same effect (it was made out of two mirrors, positioned at an angle of 90 degrees of one another) We had a lot of fun with those for a while. At this point someone from the museum came up to us and told us we weren't allowed to take pictures of the art displays but we were able to pretend we were just taking pictures of ourselves from the mirrors xD

We also visited (the very small) art gallery and after that saw an awesome statue in a side alley from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (made by Weta which was a cool surprise, as we already made plans to visit Weta which is in Wellington). This quite controversial movie was written by New Zealand raised - Richard O'Brien - which is why they have the statue there. And that was pretty much all we found to do in Hamilton so after that we just browsed the shops a bit (there was a Christmas store!) before heading back to the bus station.

We had one more stop on our way, which was in Rotorua - the very smelly town I had visited a few days beforehand. Because of this I didn't feel like getting off the bus, but we had to so I dragged Parul to the library around the corner so I could quickly use the wifi. Unfortunately I had to wait a while to get the login so I barely had time to open some emails (to read later in the bus) before we had to head back again.

We finally arrived in Taupo fairly late in the evening so all we did that first day was head out for dinner. Returning to the hostel we browsed their DVD catalogue and decided on Transformers, which we both hadn't seen yet. The movie was alright - it was very much focused on mindless action and because of that the acting and lines were pretty poor (but more often than not unintentionally funny, so that made up the amusement for us). I really liked Bumblebee and the movie ended with the Linkin Park song from Guitar Hero, which was a big plus.

I also went online for a bit and there were heaps of San Diego Comic Con panel updates that got me so excited! Thank you so much Parul for putting up with all my rambles about this <3


As soon as we got out of the bus in Hamilton we saw this awesome wall (which belongs to a music store)


One of the coolest exhibitions, pieces or art created on old postcards








Andy Warhol




This piece reminded me of the clock aliens from Doctor Who in "The Girl in the Fireplace"




Me playing around with the mirrors


The Rocky Horror statue


Inside the Hamilton version of Skycity




Pretty view as seen from the bus


June 26: Today started out pretty meh. I hadn't slept well (annoying person above me in the bunk) and when we got up it was pouring rain outside. Regardless of that we still decided to head out (as this was the only day we would have in Taupo) to check out famous Lake Taupo (located in a caldera created by a huge volcanic eruption). Unfortunately for us the weather was so bad and the fog so dense we couldn't actually see the lake properly.

So next up we went to the museum (where lo and behold I paid an entrance fee! I usually just go to free museums, lol). First we sat down (underneath a heater) to watch a documentary on the formation of Lake Taupo and it was really interesting. The volcanic eruption responsible for it was so severe that apparently it was even seen as far away as Rome! After the documentary we browsed around to see the other displays and this time we tried to read all the information listed next to it, as we needed to kill some time.

After the museum we head over to the library (the weather was still very poor at this point) and read a book, to kill time. As it finally started to clear up a bit after another hour or so we took a chance and head outside again; strolling through the main streets of the village and checking out some cute gift shops. We also wandered to the lake again, and while we didn't have the beautiful view as can be seen on the postcards, it was definitely a lot better than in the morning.

When we were back in the hostel (with new annoying roommates, ugh) we decided to watch a few movies again. We started out with Smokin' Aces (because, hello Ryan Reynolds) but turned it off after 10 minutes because we both thought it was pretty bad. Instead we settled on A Knight's Tale (surprise Alan Tudyk! And surprise Paul Bettany butt!) and Two Week's Notice both of which were awesome. I don't know when I suddenly started liking romantic comedies o.O We also started watching Heroes: Fugitives because yes, it is my sole purpose in life to get everyone hooked (again) to Heroes :P


Fog covered lake


Pretty garbage can as could be found all around Taupo


Random place coming out of McDonalds


This BSG game made me think of gossy16 and look, it's a random bonus Parul reflection!


Less foggy lake




Parul in front of Lake Taupo


Me in front of Lake Taupo


Ducks looking longingly at each other (they are even positioned kind of heart-shaped)


Random art


June 27: Today we left Taupo and took a bus to Hawera in the Taranaki region, which was a looooong trip. It was made less boring by a stop we had on our way though. I wasn't paying attention but when the bus driver stopped the bus and said we all had a brief moment to take pictures I looked through the opposite window and had sight on the amazing snow covered Mt. Ruapehu. Unfortunately the top was clouded in fog so from that look-out we couldn't see the entire mountain, but when we were on the road again I was able to snap some pictures from the window from the amazingly beautiful view.

In Hawera I was staying with Parul for a few days and we got picked up from the bus station by her parents. The first day there we didn't do a lot but we continued on with our Heroes marathon (I think we saw all episodes of that volume in 3 days or so) while munching on delicious snacks such as samosas and tim tams. For dinner we had Parul's favourite and for my own record I am writing this down because it was so yummy: rajmah chawal.


Me in front of Mt. Ruapehu


Parul in front of Mt. Ruapehu




View from the bus





More pictures can be found HERE.

Comments

[romancebuff.livejournal.com]

Wow, very cool! The closest I've been to a museum was this one store at our mall, had a ton of Greek, Roman and Egyptian wares including papyrus writings.

I still watch Heroes, am looking forward to the new volume.

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

You've never been to a museum? :( That's too bad. I must've been to hundreds of them, all over the world. Even when I was as a kid we went to all the museums in the bigger cities in the Netherlands with school and such.

Me too, is it September yet? :D