On Saturday we arrived in Taupo which is dominated by a large lake. Lake Taupo is big enough to fit Singapore in it and it is thought that the lake was formed by one of the worlds largest known volcanic eruptions around 186AD. Apparently Chinese and Roman records talk of dark red skies and climatic changes, thought to be caused by the Taupo eruption!

On Sunday I did the Tongariro Alpine crossing, classed as one of the top 10 walks in the world because of the stunning scenery and volcanic activity. It was a 19km hike up and over mount Tongariro which is next to mount Ruapehu and mount Ngaruhoe, which is mount doom in lord of the rings. The walk was amazing but hard work, especially the way up which they appropriately call the devils staircase. After a nice shower and some dinner we went out for a celebratory drink.

Today we left Taupo for River Valley. On the way we went back to Tongariro national park. We had a delicious picnic then went for a 2hr walk to some waterfalls to 'stretch' our very sore legs. We then jumped back on the bus to find the aircon had broken so we made a stop to try and fix that, but failed so carried onto river valley with the door open and arrived just in time for a delicious roast dinner. River valley is a beautiful remote place and it was nice to relax in the lodge last night.