On leaving Taupo this morning we made our way to Rotorua which is famed for the geothermal activity throughout the area. One of the many tips we had picked up on the way was to stop at a natural hot mineral spring at Waiotapu. We parked up on the road side and made our way to the pool which was overhung with trees and ferns, there are rickety steps down into a green pool which is very hot. Once in the water we found that by moving into the path of the cold feed...

Richard and Vicki very kindly invited us to stay with them for a few days and we arrived at their home early in the evening. Having been on the road for about eight weeks now it was wonderful to settle into a family home for a while. Rich and Vicki have been in NZ for six years now and are just living the dream together with their lovely children, Emily and Josh. They have a great set of friends, an absolutely fantastic home in a wonderful location and careers t...

Taupo hosted the annual summer festival today and the town was buzzing with crowds making their way to the gates from mid morning. Rich and Vicki had tickets but we had decided to spend the day exploring instead. Once again it was a day of wall to wall sunshine and we made our way to the Huka waterfalls which are absolutely spectacular with 220,00 litres of clear blue water cascading over the edge every second. We spent a very lazy afternoon on the beach in the...

Several people had told us of the mineral pools and springs in the area so we left the camp site bright and early and followed the signs to the local swimming spot. The temperatures were already rising when we arrived at the pools. Tourist attractions carry a price in NZ as everywhere but just occasionally you can find a little gem and this happened to be one of them. We took the walk through the grounds which had bubbling springs all around us and then booked ...

On our last evening in the South Island we walked from our campsite up to waterfalls and by the time we came back at around 10pm the glow worms were out, nestling in the ferns attached to the rocks. It was the first time we had seen glow worms and it was a magical experience. So pretty. This morning we were up bright and early to head down to the docks ready to board the Interislander ferry in good time for our three hour crossing. Fortunately the weather was f...