Day 95: today we left rotorua and joined a new kiwi bus. Our finial destination for the day ia taupo but on the way we stopped off at a couple of places. First stop was te puia geothermal reserve where we had a tour of the hot springs and mud pools. We also watched the big geazer and eat boiled eggs cooked in the hot springs. After the park we drove for another couple of hours before stopping off at hula falls, new Zealand's biggest waterfall in terms of volume. After this short stop we arrived in taupo shortly after. We checked in and went for a walk around the town and the lake then watched the Santa parade! In the evening we went to the bar and played somas Christmas games and mikey won five free nights in our next couple of hostels!
Day 96: today we spent the morning around the town centre and the lake, then in the afternoon walked up to soak in natural hot springs. In the evening we went to a friends hostel and we had a night of drinks and games, but got a fairly early night because we have another early start tomorrow.

Day 97: picked up early again, today we are making our way to river valley. On the way we stopped off for a picnic lunch in the mount doom national park and then we went for a two hour hike around the park. We got amazing views mount doom (the mountain featured in lord of the rings), tangariro mountain which was erupting at the time and we also the taranaki falls. We arrived at river valley by later afternoon. The lodge that we stayed at is in the middle of no where and completely secluded. In the evening we had an amazing roast dinner with all the trimmings! It was the first we've had since we left home! We had two helpings but still didn't finish!

Day 98: today we got a bit of a lie in because the bus didn't leave till late afternoon but we were still up fairly early so we could make the most of the good weather and the beautiful area of river valley. We went for a walk up and along the valley and then swam and relaxed by the river. In the afternoon we got back on the bus and made our way down to Wellington, our last stop on the north island!