After a night in Taupo - with it's big lake - we made our way to town this morning and jumped on to a speed boat - to go Parasailing!!! (well one of us did at least!). Photos of this one to follow... Taupo had a few good lake front cafés which we made use of, given the hot and sunny weather - then on the road again after a quick lunch of nachos with meat, cheese etc. On to the wine region!

And here we go into one of the big wine regions - Hawke's Valley, with our nexty stop just out of Napier in Bayview. Needless to say, plenty of vineyeards on route. Unfortunately, being Sunday, very few were open so we had to make do without wine for dinner - somewhat ironic. But again a holiday park right next to the bay (within 10 meters in fact) so a nice walk along there. The waves are pretty strong and pick up the stones on the way in... Barbecued sausage...

A fairly short drive today- so we went to learn all about Hongis and Hakas at Te Puia, a Maori village attraction. It was pretty well done, particularly a traditional welcome ceremony, songs and dances. Now set for Taupo, which also has a large lake - this one is said to be bigger than Singapore! Sun is out, temperature hitting the 30s again!

Today - a break from the road, we get to stay a second night in Rotorua! There is quite a bit to see, and we have this pass that gives access to five different sites - starting at the Agrodome. Unfortunately the weather is not great - we were initially looking to go hire a couple of bikes as the distances to attractions are not huge, but still quite a bit to walk (factoring in the walk back afterwards...). So in the end we settled for driving - good choice, the ...

Well from Waihi, further south again to a place called Rotorua - both a town and a region, known particularly for its geothermal activity, and its smell (sulfuric)... Somewhat like cabbage and / or rotten eggs... A bit of rain but mostly a smooth ride, taking in the scenery all the way to the big lake - and before heading to our camper park (Rotorua Thermal) we made a slight detour to a place called Hell's Gate - again a thermal spot, including mud spas and a na...