Lake Taupo is the largest lake in all NZ...its so big it looks like the sea! So after spending a night by the lake on the beach we woke up, had a swim and went for a wander around Taupo. We soon discovered !!!! Now while we did look like geeky Japanese tourists they were so much fun, so after mastering doing doughnuts and going backwards we were satisfied that they were worth looking stupid for! After an afternoon on the beach by the lake we got chatting to some local guys who offered to take us out on their speed boat. We wizzed out onto the lake and went to see some local Mauori carvings, then we got the doughnut out! It was awesome, think Rich lasted the longest before bailing right into the wake! After a few hours we headed back to shore and then to the natural thermal pools. The pools were just out of town and were free so we waited for sunset and then headed to have a splash. They were so hot, over 40 degrees! After about an hour in the pools we both looked like prunes but it seemed soooo cold outside in comparison....we fianlly worked up the courage and made a run for it back to the van! We stopped at Huka Falls on our way out of Taupo, Huka falls was just down the river from the hot pools we had been at and was the scariest looking canyon...it was fed by a power station that powered the city and the falls were massive!!! After the falls we stopped at craters of the moon which was a Geothermal park where you could see craters with steam rising from them and water bubblimg from the earth...something to do with the earths crust being thin there, very weird!