Our first 'lazy' start was a bit of novelty but soon the rafting guide arrived to increase the adrenaline levels! After Bob had stopped ogling the well built, tanned, cool, witty, charismatic, on trend raft guide (who also happened to be in a long and stable relationship with a Swedish medical student) we arrived at the rafting depot.

A nervous disquiet surrounded the amassing group from whom our raft crew would be selected. It was fair to say that most of them would have been picked last for a playground team of any sort, in sharp juxtaposition to the relaxed raft guides who were cruising around being generally awesome.

Suited, booted, helmeted and life jacketed we were ready to re-board the minibus, though I felt that the risk of drowning at this point was minimal. Arriving at the rafts nerves were running high, as the selection process began. Bob and I were joined by a French beast of a women, who was incapable of following my lead when paddling, and a young Australian couple who looked petrified. Our guide, a wisecracking nut brown local with a mane of dreadlocks snaking out from under his helmet tried some humour to get the crew together...Bob and I laughed...

The rafting was incredible and the photos speak for themselves but 3 monster waterfalls, including 1 drop of 7m made me very glad we had said our blessing to Chief Tutea before commencing the descent.

Back in Rotoroa we restocked from Pack'nSave, our novelty freezer pack this time being a bag of oven fries, before heading south towards Taupo.

We had lunch at Kerosene Creek which was well worth the 3km of unmetalled suspension workout. A pretty little stream wound its way through a wooded valley, the difference being that it was 42 degrees!

An hour later the Huka falls were more impressive again, 200,000 litres per second coursing through 200m of deep rock channel only 17 metres wide before thundering out into the plunge pool 10 metres below, awesome. We skipped Shaun the Prawn's entertainment park and on impulse I booked a 15000ft skydive for tomorrow, sorry Mum. This prompted a moment of reflection writing Postcards on the lake side with a cold craft beer followed by finding an ice cream for Bob.

A short run and swim before a supper of fajitas as the sun disappeared made for a great end to another excellent day, except having to sneak our toothbrushes into a local bar to brush our teeth before bed!