hey everyone hope you are all well. we have just got back from doing the east as tour which was really wicked, our first stop was whanatakane where we went to the white island which is the most active volcano in new zealand and the crater just pokes out of the top of the sea so we went on a boat ride which was so rough but real fun we got soaked as the waves came over the top! the white island was strange looked like the moon with craters and geysers and a lake right in the middle. it was cool. we also did some cool walks in that area to. hopefully we'll be able to get the photos up soon. we also stayed at the o'briens house right on the sea front which was beautiful then we fell in love with our next stop which was a farm. we decided tp stay here and work for a few days in return for free food and use of the horses. reg and jacqui were so lovely and invited into there house cooked gorgeous meals (we even tried wild boar!) it was so sad to say good bye especially to their kids noa and dawn who we loved! we helped out by clearing loads of gorse and i made a sign for them too it was so funny as they saddled up two horse tris has warlord and mine was just juice and they were our transport we rode them everywhere! considering tris hadn't been on a horse for years and years he was brilliant and loved galloping down the beach. i think he had a deal with his horse as he's was so good, mine however loved to take detours and get me stuck on the top of banks and in muddy fields!! it was such a beautiful place on the one side was lush hills and valleys and on the other was the sea...heaven. we definately want to go back. our last night we went on a wine tasting tour which lead us to but lots of bottles of wine and ultimately lead to a messy night with us, a friends mathys & maryn from holland and our great bus driver halo. such good fun until the next morning when we had to get back on the bus. so were back in lake taupo now which is cool, going to have a lazy day as our hike across tongarrio crossing was cancelled before we head to river valley tommorrow. speak to you all soon love laura and tris