After a jolly start to the day as it was Beck's b day we headed to Taupo arriving about 10.30am to beautiful sunshine! Beck and Ric were doing the sky diving so I headed out for a kayak! Don't worry it was a group thing that I booked, they took you out onto Lake Taupo and you went round and looked at stone Maouri stone carvings that you could only get to by boat. I was however a bit disappointed as you were pretty much covered up by life jackets and canoe skirts (to keep the water out the boat) so didn't get that much sun! There was a boat cruise which I had dismissed as I thought it was for slackers but I was actually rather jealous when they sailed by all relaxed and sun bathing whilst I battled the current! Arh well least I felt fit at the end of it as the wind did pick up so it was a bit of an effort getting back. I had got put with an Argentine guy Marcus and I left him to steer (due to past issues) so he was at the back but I swear he wasn't paddling! The group was nice and it was a good afternoon.

That night I headed to the cinema, my first solo visit! It was good but a bit wierd going without Mark - I actually had to pay!!?!?

I headed out at 5.40am the next morning with my packed lunch to attempt the Tongariro Alpine Crossing - famed as one of the top ten one day hikes in the world. Sadly Beck and Ric didn't make it as there taxi didn't turn up so they got up at 4.30am for nothing so I went it alone. It was a great hike, the terrain wasn't as hard as I expected but the cold and wind was a lot worse. People were turning back as it is dangerous climbing to the red crater in the wind due to the narrow trake but I spotted a guy in front with ropes and safety gear so I just made sure I was in yelling distance to him - the hillster wasn't being turned back by a bit of wind!! We walked right up the side of Mount Doom out of Lord or the rings and got to look in a near by crater before heading past the Emerald lake. I had lunch here as the rock was all warm due to the thermal activity. After this bit things werer pretty much down hill. The New Zealanders always seem a bit out on their estimates as they said 7 - 8 hours but it was more like 5.5 hours. My right knee was really playing up by the end of it and I was struggling with all the down hill - the only way I could manage the steps was to jog down them as it meant I didn't have to exert any control on the knee joint - looked a right idiot though!!

I got back to Taupo on the bus by about 4.30pm but didn't feel too well. I had caught the sun a bit and I think I had got pretty de-hydrated due to the wind. My eyes were blood shot due to the grit that had been continuously blown into them. I managed to make some crap instant noodles then flake out on my bed - luckily there was a good group of girls in my dorm room that night.

The following morning I said bye bye to Beck and Ric as we headed our seperate ways and I went off to Mount Maunganui.