Had to catch the intercity into taupo as the stray bus was all booked up for the week checked into a nice place called blackcurrent backpackers no bunk beds again which was nice met back up with nathan and a few other familiar faces from previous hostels, decided to cook a bbq and drink a pack of beer then we headed out to a lively bar as it was 2 for 1 drinks and a wet t shirt competition :-) felt rough the next day but thats what happens if u mix beer cider vodka tequilla and jaigermeister so what better way to get rid of the hangover than a bit of jet boating. my brain wasent functioning to well but i found myself in the front of the jet boat half asleep but was soon woken up moving at 80k down the river through canyons and evan down rapids the driver evan threw in a few 360`s lucky i wasent sick! after we went for dinner 25 bucks for 3 pints and a meal followed by a live band but a fairly early night. went on a nice hike the next day to a natural hot spring the water was heated by geothermal activity underground very nice and relaxing when its not too hot. yesterday i went on a training hike as i am about to do the tongoriro crossing in a few days an all day hike which passes by mount doom from lord of the rings movie and i plan to climb it so we had a warm up hike to a nearby mountain, we decided to walk to the mountain thinkin it would take 30 mins but it actualy took 2 hours and then another 90 minuites to get to the top not sure how i did it without passing out as i am so unfit but worth it when we got to the top amazing veiws could evan see mount doom in the distance which is a 2 hour drive away! luckily we got talking to 2 israili girls at the top who had a car and the offered us a lift home which wasnice and very much needed also i can say ive survived a car journey with 2 israili`s had an early night that night as i was off the next day to the national park.