Hey everyone

Today we went to River Valley!

We left Taupo in the morning with our muscles aching and very stiff, not surprising after yesterdays hike.

We first drove to the national park where we had done the Tongario Crossing yesterday, and did a walk to Taranaki Falls. It was a two hour loop to the falls, but with our aching legs it proved very difficult. It started through the forest where at one point the track had collapsed and we had to take a detour on a muddy bank surrounded by exposed tree roots. We eventually appeared at the top of the valley and had some great views of the area, including the huge snow capped Ruapehu volcano.

We walked a little further and reached the impressive waterfall, which dropped off over a cliff edge. We took some great photos and saw a rainbow appear in the spray of the waterfall. After a little relax, it was time to head back to the bus, and fortunately it took much less than an hour to return to where we started.

Back on the bus and now with even more achey muscles, we drove south through the North Island to River Valley. We eventually pulled up at a lodge in the middle of nowhere, next to a river at the bottom of a valley (unsurprisingly really). As soon as we stepped into our cold dorm room we turned on the pathetic heater and left it running for the entire time. We then found a sofa in the main building to sit on and read, and everyone else had seemed to get the same idea. Apart from going off to make dinner in the tiny rubbish kitchen, we spent most of the evening just sitting on the sofas reading or writing some of the blog. Fortunately there was a big log fire in the centre of the main lodge lounge to keep us nice and warm, and the heater in our room was busy trying to warm our beds up.

Before bed we decided on what activity to do the following morning - we were torn between white water rafting and horse riding. We settled on horse riding as Christina had been very keen to go riding at some stage throughout our travels, and the beautiful valleys seemed like a good place to do it. So off we went to bed, looking forward to tomorrows adventures... Xxx