Weather, as forecast, set grey & raining - so decided to follow the advice of the park owner, hoping for better mountain spotting weather tomorrow. Agreed to stay another night, so no need to rush in the morning to get packed & on the move.

Relatively late start to the day: breakfast & homework, the drove east towards Turangi. Quick stop at the Waituhi Saddle Lookout for another scenic photo, then onto the Tongariro National Trout Centre. Interesting, informative, displays on water usage and native fish species, plus the lifecycle of trout & fish farming. J liked the aquarium, with many species on display; both friend and foe! Both kids enjoyed feeding the trout in the outdoor pond, in the rain, followed by a good stroll along the banks of the Tongariro River. Overall, much more interesting and fun than it originally sounded!

Then retraced steps a few km to Tokanau for the Thermal Area & Hot Pools. 20 min stroll around the "thermal bush walk" through clouds of smelly steam & past bubbling pools of mud & (very) hot water pools & streams. Then into the swimming pool, for a very relaxing hour in the bath water temperature pool - just bliss!

Got chatting to a couple who were the only people around when we arrived at the pool, only to discover that she had family connections around Blackborough / Kentisbere (surname Coombes).

Everybody tired out by the heat of the pool, so it wasn't difficult to get an early night after tea. Kids straight off to sleep. D&L much the same after sitting in the kitchen polishing off a bottle of wine!