Sunday 8th November Another early start and off the campsite at 9, back at the i-site office shortly after. Next stop the Aratiatia dam where the water flowing out of Lake Taupo is held back and then released when the flood gates are opened for about 15 minutes three or four times a day when the flood gates are opened to allow a deluge of water to flow down over the Aratiatia Rapids. We arrived just as the siren was sounding to announce the 10 o'clock opening o...

Saturday 7th November Whirinaki Forest and Taupo. A lie in today after our late expedition in the forest! We woke to the sound of our tinkling stream and birdsong. We opened the blinds to look up through the tree tops to a clear deep blue sky. The other small tent had vanished so we had our perfect little forest clearing all to ourselves. Whilst Bill prepared breakfast, I went back to nature and rinsed out all our whiffy sulphur impregnated swimwear in the c...