Jasmine Cottage

Jan. 9 - Beware what you rent over the internet. We met Jim Taylor at the cottage we arranged to rent - we had seen a few photos on the website, along with what ammenities the cottage had - and I guess you can say we were a little disappointed. The place was quite roomy with two bedrooms and a nice front deck and a garage, but it was very sparsely furnished and not entirely clean. The beds were pretty good, but had old pilled sheets - yuck! We started making a list for Mr. Taylor. We have spent the last few days cleaning, shopping, etc. Mr. Taylor got us better sheets and is supposed to bring a dresser and a coffee table - he did offer us his old cell phone to use while we are here, so we now have a phone.

Jan. 11 - Today we went to play golf at Wairaki International, a course just five minutes north of Taupo. It's the best course we've played so far on our trip. In fact, we liked it so much, we played 36 holes. It was in great shape, super layout, well worth playing if you are ever in the area. We were pretty bushed after 36 holes, even with a cart, but we still played nine more holes the next day.