From Hobbition we headed down to Rotorua, where we were barely in the place and we were hit by the distinctive sulphur eggy smell!!! We walked around Kuirau Park to see the geothermal activity...as we had seen some already in Bolivia we didn't feel the need to do the whole tour! From there we headed out to the lakes, taking in the spectacular views and stopping for a stroll near Lake Tarawera before heading to Lake Okareka to camp for the night. It was another beautiful setting. Shane went to freshen up in the Lake, using it as his own personal giant bath, before cooking dinner and hitting the sack....while we are in NZ we are watching Lord of the Rings...slowly a bit each night, as we have the extended version, but it seemed appropriate while we are driving around this amazing countryside!

We started the next day with a walk around Lake Tikitapu, also known as the Blue Lake. It was a lovely stroll and Shane even managed to thrown the line in. From here we headed down to Taupo.

We arrived into Taupo in the late afternoon, to a free campsite called Reidys Farm. Again Shane decided the best shower was the one in the river....a little fresh, but nice!!! He also scared the life out of Phil by accidentally hiding so she thought he had come to trouble with the strong currents, of which there were many warnings about!!!...luckily he was fine, and Phil got over her fright with a nice duty free vodka!!!!:)

The next day we headed up the road about 50meters to Huka Falls, which is where the Waikato, NZs longest river, 'slams into a narrow chasm, making a dramatic 10m drop into a surging pool' (the LP as we couldn't put it better ourselves!!!) The colour of the water is a really blue blue....so even though it was no Iguazu it was still very impressive and well worth seeing!!!

We then went into town to get Shane his Taupo fishing licence...and some friendly advice of where and how to fish!!!!..Of which every person we talk to seems to have differing opinions which makes for interesting choices!!!....the main fishing spots were down the east side of Lake Taupo...so off we set hitting the 4 main rivers we were told about, with no joy on any of them.....

We camped that night right next to the Tongariro River which seemed like a promising place to fish......Shane went out for the evening rise...but came back empty handed....with nothing to show for it but lots of sand fly bites....yuk!!!