My last blog got up to the point where we had been stuck in Okakune because of the snow so I will carry on from there. After escaping from the snow at last we drove as quick as we could in the conditions to make sure we wouldn't be stuck for another night. Luckily our next stop wasn't far away at a place called Turangi. The drive there was really nice despite the snow as the roads had all been cleared, and we drove right through the Tongariro National Park. We had planned to go and walk around there that morning but obviously we couldn't because of the weather and even later in the day the walking tracks actually in the park itself weren't up to much, but the drive through was still great. We could see all the snow covered mountains quite close up, which are actually volcanos that are still active. It was quite amazing to see really. After about an hours driving we reached Turangi, and after a while driving about trying to find a campsite we eventually settled down for the night in dry ground. The campsite wasn't the best and as it was so big was a bit creepy in the dark, but it had a hot shower and a TV room so that was all that mattered!

We got up quite early the next morning as we were so excited about the day ahead. We had booked to go white water rafting and were really looking forward to it, and that was the reason we had stayed there in the first place so it wasn't far away. We got up and had a bit Burger King breakfast to give us some energy and did a few jobs until it was time to go. The office we had to meet in was in a smaller village called Tokaanu about 10 minutes drive away and we got there at about midday. As it happened Justin and I were the only two people crazy enough to go rafting on a freezing cold winters day, and we were the only people on the trip which was really good. The people that ran the company were really friendly and nice, and started us off by giving us the gear to wear for the trip. We had to wear one fleece under our wetsuit and another on top of it to keep us warm, and big waterproof jacket, socks and waterproof boots. We looked gorgeous - pale purple and turquoise really are Justins colours! After that we had to get in the bus to the start of the part of the river we would be rafting. The river was called the Tongariro river and was about 20 minutes away, and once we arrived we were given a lifejacket and helmet too. As it was just the two of us and the instructor on the raft we had to struggle to carry it down to the river. He told us a bit about what we had to do, how to hold the paddle, where to sit and the commands he would shout, and then we were off! We were on the water for 2 hours altogether, although it didn't feel like that as the time really did fly. It was so much fun, and one of the best things we have done! We went down loads and loads of rapids, broken up by some calm points, and both got soaking wet. I seemed to get splashes in my face more than anyone else though! All the rapids had names, but I can't remember all of them. The trip was at greade 3, which is the middle grade for rafting, and all the rapids were different. Some were faster and some were different lengths, but they were all great fun! We had to hold on most of the the times we went over the worst bits, but it was more fun when we had to keep paddling as it felt like we were going come out. We had to paddle really fast at points as there were only three of us on the boat, but we still went really fast. The scariest bit was when we had to swap sides on the raft as it really did feel like we were going to come out, but luckily neither of us fell off. There were a couple of close calls though! It was a great trip even without the rapids as the river was beautiful and we had picked a great day weather wise. We stopped for a break in one of the calmer parts and had a hot drink and some chocolate to give us more energy to keep going. Obviously it was freezing but there were no clouds in the sky and it was really sunny. Eventually it all came to an end, but we got some great pictures on disc to remember it by. It had really been a great trip! Once we had finished we had to pull the raft back out of the water and get back in the van, this time soaking wet, to be taken back to base. I wasn't that cold considering all the water that had hit me but my hands and feet were like ice cubes. I couldn't walk properly when we came out my feet were that cold. Luckily they had a hot thermal pool back at the office that we could use afterwards and it was just what we needed!

After we had finished up at the rafting place we hit the road again on to Taupo. We were just the otherside of Lake Taupo from the main town so it didn't take long to get there. It is the largest lake in New Zealand though! As we were so tired from the rafting we didn't do much for the rest of the afternoon. We had a bit of trouble finding somewhere to stay for the night though as all the campsites we tried we either miles away, didn't actually exist or really expensive. We found one in the end though, and relaxed for the night. We had an explore of the town the next day after walking in from the holiday park. It was much bigger than I had expected but there wasn't loads to do unless you wanted to spend a lot of money. We had a nice day just wandering round the shops, stopping for lunch and walking around the lake itself. There were a few things to see outside of Taupo so we left that for the following day.

It was another early morning the next day as we had a few things to see. Our final stop was going to be Rotorua, but there were some places we wanted to visit on the way there. First of all we drove to Huka Falls which is a big waterfall on the river Waikato, the country's longest river. It was good to see as it was big and the river was so fast. It looked a bit deadly compared to other waterfalls we have seen. The downside was that it was absolutley heaving with people. Everywhere we have been so far has been fairly quiet, and this is definetly the place where we have seen the most tourists so far. After that we went to 'Crater's of the Moon' which is a thermal area just outside Taupo. It took about and hour or so to walk around and was quite interesting as there were craters, huge blows of steam and boiling mud pools, all a result of the volcanic activity in the area. After that we went to the last stop called Aratiatia rapids. The river was actually stopped by a dam, but it opened up at certain times of the day and you could see the rush of water build up to some quite impressive rapids. I wouldn't have liked to raft those ones! We stopped to have a quick lunch in the van and then off we went to Rotorua; the town that smells like eggs!