Rooapayoo

Mount Ruapehu 

Officially described as 'the largest active volcano in NZ' 😳, Ruapehu is the booootiful ski mountain of North Islanders choice, about 5 hour drive out of Auckland central.  Most people stay in a wee town called Ohakune, and all pile in their batch complexes like an adult holiday camp.. if you don't go there during the ski season, you just ain't cool fool!  So me, a mixed selection of Irish and a tiny Kiwi embarked on the journey one eve.. 6 birds and 7 bottles of wine and a couple of snowboards.  

We arrived at our holiday home of dreams, 1 part excitement / 3 parts pinot noir.. I took one step out of the car, slipped over onto a tree trunk and was rendered nil by sudden movement for the rest of the trip… woop.   All was not a loss though, residing myself to the fact that I'd not be entering any extreme sports competitions (obvs would have been sans injury!), we donned some knits and up the mountain we went.  A couple of the girls got amongst the activities, and the rest of us went on the sledge slope and had a snow ball fight..  between 2 lunches and ample medicinal Coronas.

It really is stunning at the top of the mountain and a hive of mixed activities, even people skiing between parked cars and kids on tiny boards going about their own business.. fats, thins, infants and olds all equally as casually winter sports cool.  But after a day of watching the other kids play like a special on a trip with the community centre, we made our way back down to O town and spent the eve in the village's main inn, that goes from restaurant - sports bar - table top dancing disco all in the course of a Saturday eve.. It was many lols.

So my first road trip out of Auckland complete! And although it began with a tale of how my abnormally long pins almost killed me (again), it was still wicked.. and filled with many firsts - the most exciting of them being chips topped with sour cream and sweet chili sauce.  A weekend I think I’d sum up as 'eventfully uneventful?'

Auckland CBD

Sooooooo I'm thrice months my way through the Auckland times and would love to report a daily adventure like that of the amazon etc. but have actually just been hauled up in a sky tower, working for the man!

When we first arrived here, living out of what was now half a backpack of clothes and stinking of empinadas, we stayed in a hostel room of 10 for a couple of weeks.  It was nicer than most we'd stayed in before, had a massive kitchen, hot water, and an equal mix of Korean students and European strippers.  But it was time to grow up, get jobs and get back to the grind.. so I brought a blazer jacket and moved into a house. I live in a place called Ponsonby which is pretty cool.. so cool that the school kids meet for coffee in the morning, and not at the newsagents to buy fags with their dinner monies!?  I live with a Kiwi Personal Trainer, a Swedish Au pair and an Irish Physio.. the making of a man’s wet dream on paper, but unfortunately there are no scantily clad pillow fights, just a lot of watching the bachelor while don ill-fitting leisurewears

I would probably liken Auckland CBD to London in the 90s, where everyone loves a power suit and wears sunglasses in the winter.  Everything is overpriced and everyone pushes in at the bus stop.. but much like London, those that live here love it and you can pretty much spot an 'Aucklander' a mile away.. normally because they're staring at you awkwardly or are constantly on route to the gym.  But for what AKL lacks in genuine folk and Primark, it makes up for with Thai takeaways on every street corner.. and the fact that you're never more than a 10 minute walk to a waterfront..

Now when I say overpriced I mean courgettes have become luxurious in that they cost $10 for 3.. tres!  A terry's chocolate orange??  A mere 11 of your finest NLand dollars.. and a bottled cider in the local boozer would cost around $18, around 10GBPS!  So to keep myself in basic staples and a selection of mid-range confectionaries I had to get a j.o.b, and I work now as a PA for Auckland Council.  My job is a breeze and my boss is badass.. if a person could be likened to a carry on film or episode of faulty towers, he'd be it.. And because of that he overlooks things like my inability to spell my own name some days (actually happened)

So after an embarrassing amount of time in the office, or in a local watering hole with my most favourite Irish Niamh McCallion (more on her later), it's time to get the ol' Lonely Planet out and the travel back on.. Excitement level 11 about this!