Day 372: Hostels in Turangi

I was so tired in the morning that all I could do was drive into Taupo in the morning to get poached eggs for breakfast and sit there looking spaced out. Everyone was being intensely solicitous of me, today and yesterday, and I couldn't figue out why.  I supposed I looked exhausted, but not that bad!  Then I realised that Easter is this big family holiday in New Zealand when everyone gets together and here I am on my own.  Of course, they don't realise that as far as I'm concerned Easter is something I'm vaguely aware of as a practical issue of what will be open and where the crowds will be.  Well, I have eaten my share of hot cross buns, but I am not in the mood for NZ's version of chocolate.  Seems like we went straight from mince pies to hot cross buns this year!

After 'brunch' I went and dozed by the lake for a while, then checked in at my hostel where I dozed some more.  It is probably just as well that I did.  Hostels vary in their character from night to night, but what they seem to have in common is small rooms and poor soundproofing.  This is the biggest room, I've had so far, though it has other issues, such as the smell.  It is in some kind of converted worker's hostel, wildly decorated in an unprofessional but determinedly international style.  Which it has earned, as you will see. The real problem is the group of European kids who were staying here when I arrived.  When I say 'kids' I mean old enough to travel round the world without adult supervision, but you wish they weren't.  They came in at 10.30, started playing Tag in the corridor, ... eventually went to bed, woke up at 6.30, chattering and squealing like a playground.  The next night, the kitchen seemed to contain nobody but a couple of Chinese ladies, cooking something very complicated for their quiet, pleasant families and chatting in low voices.  The night after that, the kitchen was full of a more sober variety of Europeans and Americans, seasoned travellers chatting and exchanging ideas.  In the morning a small group of girls who might have been Malaysian - at any rate, Muslims from this general part of the world were busy preparing enough food to feed about twelve people, which eventually turned out to be the size of their group. The hostel is super cheap, and I can live with it quite happily, as long as I don't have to listen to anyone else complaining about it.  I might want to wash everything I own after I leave, though.