The drive there was a bit boring very samey and green and quite flat.  When we got there we visited Waikakei Terraces – this is a Thermal Hot pool with a walkway round the outside.  The walkway was a bit of a disappointment – you saw the geyser but not much else – but the hot pools were lovely.  It was warm and sunny out.  We have both found we love the hot pools, so when we can go in them we do! 

     

 

That night we found a free site right on the river which was nice and quiet and not too busy. Here is the view from our Tinny!

 

The next day in Taupo was all about water – again.  Today we visited the Huka falls – an amazing amount of water flowing through these falls – 250,000 litres per second.

 

   

Second on the agenda was Aratiatia falls.  This is a dam which is released a few times a day – 80,000 litres per second for 15 mins.  The river below is nearly dry before the release.  We watched the 12 o’clock release from the bridge and although it is amazing, watching  from the top lookout point is much better.  You can see the water filling the basins and spilling over finally coming down the ret of the river – quite an amazing sight.

 

      

 

We ended our visit to Taupo by visited the Baptist church. 

 

We enjoyed the service and then after lunch by the lake we headed out of town towards Tongariro National Park.

That night we stopped at the foot of the mountain in Tunangi in a site and we didn’t receive a very good welcome.  The lady in charge was very abrupt, she wasn’t happy when we presented a voucher for 10% off the campsite fee – basically she needed some happy pills.  However, saying that the site was clean and although the hot pools were old they were lovely for a soak. 

The following day we headed for the mountains at Whakapapa.  We could see the mountains from Tunangi but you could feel the temperature lowering as you got closer.  The was snow but not lots of snow.  We headed up the mountain on the chair lift and this is where we noticed the lack of ski wear.  Jeans are not the best item of clothing to keep warm and trying to walk on snow in hiking boots is just near impossible.  The sun was shining where we got to the top so we stopped and had a coffee while we looked enviously at all the skiers. We had decided not to do a day skiing even though you could hire all the gear – it was just not worth it for one day.  We had a lovely time just watching the people going past us and then we took the chair lift down again.  By this time a very big grey cloud had come in and the temperature had dropped even further.

 

We drove down the mountain again and through lots of little villages National Park, Okakune where they looked great if the weather was OK and you were into mountain biking and the such like.  We headed back for another night on the lake at Tunangi this time in a free camp rather than the campsite with the grumpy lady!

 

Next morning after a quick geo cache hunt we were off to Napier via Taupo.  A lovely morning spent by Taupo lake just watching people and boats and planes coming and going.