this morning we said goodbye to the small town of owhango and were dropped off back at the whakapapa visitor center in tongariro national park. the kiwi experience bus arrived shortly after. it's one of the newer buses that includes a toilet, although i do not know if it is functional. the bus was too full for twiddle thumbs and i to sit together, oh well. have to make nice with the poms. starting to realize that it's not all the uk persons, just the english who tend to be rude. so far, the scots, welsh, and irish are nice, friendly, and have good manners. they don't talk too much and aren't loud like the english. something to think about if i ever visit those parts.

the grand chateau, a luxury hotel at tongariro that was once a mental asylum

there's something i thought about the kiwi experience bus that i have yet to articulate in the blog. that is that i liken the bus and passengers to a high school excursion. it's like everyone's going to camp, except they are old enough to purchase alcohol on their own. (dangerous!) nowhere more was this so than today. we arrived at river valley lodge and i am overwhelmed with disappointment. it's a pretty crap place. we're sleeping in a huge pile as if we're in soldiers barracks. 2 levels of beds. each level has 8 mattresses. you're lucky if you have a few inches between your mattress and your neighbor's. a giant bunk bed, if you will. the adjoining room isn't completely sealed off. if you stand up on the top level, you can communicate with the neighbors. you hear everything. the toilets are little more than outhouses. the showers are...god, i'm not going to use them! the kitchen is filthy. it's not even a kitchen. just hot plates, no stove. it's abysmal. the baudelaire children of "lemony snicket's a series of unfortunate events" had a much better kitchen to work with.

everything seems to be an afterthought at this place. pasted together as the business grew. or a ploy to get you to spend more money. you see the dorm and upgrade to a private ensuite unit. you see the kitchen and pay for a prepared meal. no sir, i won't do it. i'm not giving them any more of my money. only paying the outrageous fee of $19 for the barracks. that's $1 more than what i paid at forest lodge and that place was tenfold better. no, even more better. beyond words. i'm so pissed right now at this place. i'm not here to do the river rafting or horse riding. i don't want to play their crap 9-hole golf. if we didn't do the lord of the rings tour, we would have been on the bus that skipped this shit hole. too late now. just grin and bare it.