A Day of Busts - 26 December 2007

Ah, Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. It’s a Public Holiday here in New Zealand. That translates into more closed businesses and restaurants, but fear not – Hayley and I still managed to find things to do today. After having room serviced breakfast we embarked on our day of adventure.
It worked out well that we cancelled our initial plans days ago to not hike the Tongariro Crossing. The peaks were covered in clouds and the weather down below was not much better, well, depending on what time of day it was and where we were. As you may remember, we opted to do a Floatplane ride over the Volcanic region and the Tongariro Crossing. Bust number one came when we arrived at Taupo’s Floatplane down on the lake. Due to the weather, our flight plan was closed and the forecast did not show any openings later in the day for us to follow through on them. This did not come as a shock to me. In my prior research of the Tongariro Crossing I had read numerous accounts of people having to make multiple trips here before they could finally make the Crossing a success because of the weather. As a fall back we took a slight refund of our cost and chose to take the half hour flight over Lake Taupo, Huka Falls and the Craters of the Moon. This was very cool. Riding up front in the co-pilot’s seat I sat taking video, as Hayley snapped away on the still images from the seat behind me. After touching back down on the lake surface we docked and returned to the hotel. Our planned adventures of the day were over.
Just as we returned to the motel the clouds got dark and opened up, dumping rain. About forty-five minutes after our return to the motel we headed back out, to beautiful blue skies. The only sign of rain were a few puddles on the asphalt. Our first stop would be back to the Floatplane to videotape the next flight’s take-off for our honeymoon video. The flight was due for 1130am. The patrons arrived about 1135am and by 1140am they were still milling around trying to decide who would actually do the flying. As a result of their not being punctual we took on bust number two. Not really being sure how long it would take to travel we had to depart for our next stop, the Huka Falls River Cruise, unable to videotape the take-off of the plane. We arrived way early for the Cruise, so early we had time to watch the opening of the Aratiatia Dam and the release of the water feeding the Aratiatia Rapids. After watching the dam release we faced bust number three. Because we were the only two people signed up for the 1230pm cruise it was not cost efficient for the operator to run the cruise, thus no trip, thus bust three. He did offer to make room for us on the guaranteed 230pm and 430pm cruises. We told the operator we may be back and then headed into town for some lunch.
Our intention was to have lunch at a place called “S.O.B.” and tantalize the taste buds with New Zealand’s take on the buffalo wing and steaks, however, due to it being Boxing Day, it was closed – bust number four. As we drove around in search of another place to eat we have not already visited we could see the oncoming monsoon crossing the lake. We quickly found a spot to park and made a dash for cover to ponder our food options. No luck. The rain and wind hit us, drenching us in just seconds, before we could find shelter of a restaurant. The next food option we desired became bust number five as The Clubhouse was closed. At least this bust provided us some shelter from the wind and rain temporarily before it began to let up and we could make our way two doors down to a sports pub.
Minutes after entering the sports pub the skies outside were blue and clouds only existed to the south over the volcanoes. After our meal we exited to the pub in time to make another dash for the car in yet again, another wave of clouds, wind and rain rapidly approaching across the lake. We returned to the motel briefly for me to change into dry clothes because my drenched ones were rapidly reducing my body temperature and making me uncomfortable.
With dry clothes on, we ventured back out to see if we could not replace the fried power converter. The barkeep at the pub suggested we try The Warehouse (we associated it to New Zealand’s version of Wal-Mart). The rain was still falling as we parked at The Warehouse, although lightly thankfully since we had to park in the last spot that was furthest from the entrance to the store. Inside, we were unable to locate a power converter of any kind. They had an adapter, similar to the one we are using on the power strip, but no luck on the converter. Then, it was like a light bulb went on in my noggin, I thought, if the main reason we need a power converter is to plug in the straightening iron, why not just buy a new straightening iron for the remaining two weeks? As luck would have it, they would be on sale, thirty percent off. The end result is it was cheaper than what a power converter would have cost and Hayley can have her straight hair. Yay!!!
With our purchase in hand we made our way back to the car, once again under clear blue skies with the only clouds visible to the south over the volcanoes. We returned home to the motel, Hayley took a nap, I did a few loads of laundry and downloaded the day’s pictures from our cameras. While working on the computer I heard a sound that sounded like that of someone crinkling up a plastic bag. The only problem was that Hayley was asleep in the bedroom, the television was off and the windows were closed. I turned and looked out the window to see a rare occurrence, HAIL was pelting the window. That’s right, I said hail. It was small, perhaps a hair under pea-sized, but nonetheless it was hailing here in New Zealand. Wow, storm chasing while on the honeymoon. I quickly set down the computer and grabbed my video camera. It lasted for several minutes, accumulating in some areas. Unfortunately it was a day too late to make it a White Christmas. Ha ha. Regardless, it was a sight to see and kind of ironic since today I wore my “Tornado Chaser” t-shirt.
Hayley has since awoken from her nap, taken a shower, watched half of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl on television and is now breaking in the straightening iron while I have finished my laundry and typed up today’s excursions. It is time for me to make my way out and pick up some dinner and let Hayley get her internet time.
Cheers,
Bobby and Hayley