Taupo welcomed us with the worst downpours we had seen since being in New Zealand. It poured down for hours so we didn?t really get to explore till the Saturday. We stayed at the Rainbow Lodge which was centrally located and was friendly enough. We rested the first night and Ben had arranged to meet his family in the morning. They picked us up in the car around lunch time and we went back to their home which was lovely. Margaret is Ben?s mothers aunty and lives in Auckland but came down to meet us and she was staying with her son Jeremy and his wife Joanne and their four children Michaela 10, Jarred 8, Miles 4 and Mia only 6 weeks old and gorgeous. They were all very nice to us and made us feel very welcome. We had a lovely lunch and Jeremy and the kids decided to show us around and we ended up at the bungy jump!! The Kids were pushing Ben and Jeremy to do a jump and Ben gave in and decided to do one and Jeremy didn?t want to miss out so he signed up as well. They quickly took our weight and money and Ben decided to go first and he was surprisingly calm and took a deep breath and fell 47m into the river below and got soaked up to his waist!! Jeremy wasn?t so calm and when told to jump he couldn?t so they decided to make it simple and just push him off which was so funny as he screamed like a girl. We spent the rest of the day over Jeremy?s and Joanne?s after they showed us the Huka Falls and the Prawn Park. The kids were great and good fun to be around and it was lovely to catch up with Ben?s family who he had never met. The next couple of days Jeremy and Joanne treated us to some lovely dinners and Margaret headed back to Auckland where we will stay with her in a week or so. We also visited the Rocks?n?Ropes where the kids and us all did a Giant Swing. First we had to climb a 40ft pole harnessed to the top and then once strapped to the swing we jumped off the tower and fell 40ft before swinging back up and it was pretty scary to say the least!! The kids did were pretty brave to jump!! And Ria was even braver once I forced her to have a go?and she loved it!!. In our own time we went for a walk around Lake Taupo which is the biggest lake in New Zealand and treated ourselves to a Pizza Hut buffet which went down lovely. After a great few days we packed our bags and caught the bus to Rotorua where we plan to do some caving and said goodbye to Jeremy, Joanne and family and promised to return in out campervan next month.