As I await my ferry to the South Island, I find myself in Wellington—the capital of New Zealand. Wellington’s is actually a very nice place. Maybe it’s just because I’m here on one of the few clear days they seem to get. It’s at the very southern end of the North Island on a harbour (obviously, if I’m catching my ferry from here) nestled in the mountains (some of them snow-capped). There are lots of nice homes built into the hill, much like San Francisco. In fact, it even has a cable car you can ride. It also has a nice downtown area that clings to the harbour’s curves.
I’m staying in a Youth Hostel that runs more like a big city hotel, with magnetic cards for keys and a room cleaning crew. Last night I stayed at another Youth Hostel in a town northwest of here that seemed more like a Bed & Breakfast. They sure have changed a lot since I first hosteled 17 years ago. I remember when you were expected to perform some sort of chore in exchange for your cheap fee. That seems totally unheard of today. You find all ages staying in hostels. There have been a few occasions when I was the youngest customer. There was one woman staying in this Wellington hostel who must have been in her 80’s! Lots of younger travellers seemed happy to look out for her and help her around. I think that’s why she probably liked it. I’ve also seen a number of families with little kids. I guess YHA found too much competition from independent hostels.
There was an often-quoted study conducted in Australia in the nineties that found that the big travel spenders were actually backpackers, not resort visitors. Backpackers stay longer in most countries and end up spending more, so a lot of new hostels have come on the scene looking to cash in.
So I’ve now been to all the big volcanoes around the North Island. I found out today that they are, in fact, still active. The middle one last erupted in 1996, but no one was injured. I had breakfast with a guy from Canada this morning who told me he was talking with a woman who was skiing on it at the time. Boulders the size of cars were raining down, and the snow melted almost instantly. Fortunately, no one was injured. There have been fatal eruptions in previous years.
