More North Island Nonsense, New Zealand

After four tranquil days in Rotorua, I felt compelled to visit the surfer's Paradise known as Raglan on the West Coast. Not being a surfer, I had a suspicion that I would come to loathe it, which happened rather quickly. It didn't help that it was absolutely chock-full of Americans, talking loudly about their expertise on various subjects. I also came to the realization that while the rest of the world comes to New Zealand to piss away a few weeks/months jumping out of planes and lazing on the beach, the typical American is on some sort of epic Spiritual Quest in an effort to "find themselves". The country was founded by a handful of religious lunatics and established by anti-government tax dodgers. Not much has changed.

Open mic in Raglan featured an astounding dub version of Radiohead's "Karma Police" that somehow made it into a veritable cheerful party song. Well done!

Looking for an excuse to bail on Raglan I saw a rare break in the weather forecasted for the Turangi area...thus, I woke up at some unholy hour, downed a Sugar-Free V (that's more chemicals for me!) and screamed down the highway to Whakapapa village, using the Sport Transmission option on the Vectra and enjoying it immensely. I could have made it in three hours hadn't I been inconvenienced by 800 sheep crossing the road. Nevertheless, without a second to lose I hastily suited up and made the slog up Mt Ruapehu, foregoing the gondola because that $23 could be spent on celebratory beverages. I summited just in time to catch a glimpse of the crater lake and watch the clouds roll in, signaling another week of shitty weather. Exhausted but satisfied, I made the descent accompanied by a geezer from England, who hikes around the world and is quite proud of the fact that he can do all sorts of physical activity at his age. At that point in the conversation he caught the gondola back to the carpark, completely unaware of the irony.

Everyone raves about the Coromandel peninsula, but I wasn't in the mood to follow advice. Thus, it was high time to go to the farm.