After a brief drive North East we arrived at Hawkes bay, Napier- the main city in the bay. On the drive up we were optimistic, as the Vineyard rich bay boasted the most sunshine on the east coast and were bemused when we got there at the persistent rain! Still we managed to play rugby on the beach for a good few hours and look around the surrounding town of Hastings. That night (after locating a suitable lay by to sleep in) we went back into town and found a cool Irish pub to watch the South Africa v Australia rugby match over a burger and a few beers. The next day we headed out of Hawkes Bay and Napier to Lake Taupo- the biggest lake in the North Island, basically in the middle of the Island. Taupo was a very youthful town, dominated by adrenalin sports, aimed at tourists, such as the Taupo Bungee and various water sports and skydives. The Lake itself was a huge beautiful deep blue lake which (as it was out of season) wasn't very busy and we managed to find a tranquil spot at Acacia Bay to have our lunch- apart from being bullied by huge black swans, that didn't go down a storm- they ended up eating most of our sandwiches! As we Northwards around the lake we chanced upon the Huka falls, a hard stone gorge only 10m wide that the huge Waikato river was forced into, flowing from 100m diameter to 10m in about 20 meters which caused a huge white water rapid and a massive 20m waterfall over which 250,000 cubic meters flows over every second- the river itself providing about 15% of NZ energy. The next day we revisited this attraction and did a 2hour round walk up and down the Waikato river, seeing some fantastic valleys and some very expensive holiday homes!- oh well maybe in a few years! That day we also visited the 'moon craters' which were thermal holes in the ground, following the Thermal explorer route which spans most of the North Island. After what we felt was a fulfilling touristy day! we headed back to our lay by for a good night's sleep to rise early in the morning and head off to Rotarua.