After the internet last night, went back to the hostel and watched the last part of "Fast & the Furious", and then "Trainspotting" (weird, funny movie), then watched TV, the news, followed by "The Office" (very funny British comedy...seen it in Sydney as well). The hostel has a resident "fat cat" (he's HUGE), and very friendly, he slept on my lap during the movie.
Got up about 8:45, slept great, had breakfast, showered, then went and booked a seat on the HukaJet, a jetboat ride on the Raikoto River. $62 with YHA discount. Before going out to the boat ride, walked to Spa Thermal Park. They have a naturally occuring hot water stream that flows into the Waikoto River, and you can soak in it (free). They were a few people in it when I walked there. It was 1.5 hours walk both ways, and I was complete devoid of enery and so hungry (despite having breakfast), I thought I was going to die of lack of energy right there on the trail, I could hardly walk, so when I finally got back to the hostel, I drove to a restaurant and had an expensive breakfast of bacon and eggs, hashbrowns, toast and tea. Then took off to the HukaJet about 12:30.
My boatride was at 1:00, and it's perhaps 10km out of town, so got to the place in plenty of time, paid for my trip, then made my way down to the dock abotu 1:00, got suited up in splash jackets and lifejackets, and hopped in the boat. 10 other people in the boat, plus the driver. These boats are amazing!!! They are powered by a 502 cubic inch 8.2 litre Chevrolet V8 engine, running on LPG (jet fuel). They thrust 380 litres of water per second. And the most amazing thing. They draw only 4 inches (!) of water!!! And they were designed to do 360 degree turns on a dime! They can travel at 80km/hour. So, we travelled downstream to Aratiatia Dam, then up to Huka Falls, all the while racing along the shoreline in only 6 inches of water, it was incredible to see the bottom of the river only inches under the surface. Very exhilerating ride, especially the 360's. The ride only lasted about half an hour, though.
After the HukaJet, went to the Volcanic Activity Centre ($6), which was quite interesting. All about volcanic, thermal, and earthquake activity in NZ, and the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
After the Volcanic Activity Centre, drove through the Wairakei Geothermal Power Station, one of two power stations that NZ has that generates power from natural steam.
After that, drove down to the Rapids Jet. They jetboat the section of river below the Aratiatia dam. I didn't do it (not yet), but a group was just going out when I got there. They lady who works there told me I could drive a few km downstream and see them go through rapids, which I did. As I was climbing back up the river bank, I noticed some steam rising up from just around the bend in the river, so went over, looked over the cliff, and sure enough, steam rising from the river bank. I climbed back down and walked over to that area, the ground is all warm, and there's hot water seeping out of the shore, amongst the rocks, at the rivers edge. The very edge of the river is warm/hot, but stick your hand in the river just 6 inches further out, and it's cold. Way cool.
Left there about 4:00, and headed back to town, stopped at Woolworth's for groceries and guess what I found. Miracle Whip! Real Kraft Miracle Whip!!! I was so happy. I decided to have sliced meat on buns (with Miracle Whip, of course).
Had supper, then not much in the evening. One of the guys in my room did the Tongariro Crossing, considered the best day hike in all of NZ. I would have liked to do it, but in winter, you need crampons and stuff, which I didn't have. He had pictures on his Sony Viao (tiny notebook, for those not in the know), they looked quite spectacular. He had a great day too, today was sunny all day.
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