Lake Taupo, Tongarira Alpine Crossing and River Valley

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We arrived in Taupo in late afternoon and there wasn't much to do but go and get supplies for the day long walk the next day and then take advantage of the drinks offers in the bar! Oh and i went to a Mcdonalds for the first time in as long as i can remember cos there was an aeroplane outside and u cud sit and eat in it - v.childish but really cool and excited everyone! So then it was a pretty long night in the bar and up at 6am the next morning to do the Tongarira alpine crossing, which has been voted one of the best one day walks in the world or something. It was pretty impressive despite the fact that it was a bit cloudy and misty towards the summit so views weren't ideal. Some of the craters and lakes were really cool though and we saw mount doom from lord of the rings and it was generally good fun and good exercise too. We made good time and were back by 2 30pm despite a few people moaning that they couldn't believe they'd agreed to do it! On the way back to Taupo most of the people i was with stopped off to do a skydive over the lake which did look pretty cool but if i do one, i want to do it over the glaciers in the south island! Anyway so a few more beers in the bar and watched a bit of super 14 rugby and not too late night and the next morning it was off on the coach to river valley. It took a long time to get there and we stopped off loads on the way as usual but i really can't remember where - oh yeah to do another little walk in the tongarira national park but this one was dead easy. There was a waterfall at the end of the walk where we had lunch, which was cool. And then we drove to another waterfall, where apparently golem hung about in lord of the rings and we jumped off a rock and into the waterfall - i don't think it was much more than 5 metres high but was still pretty cool and absolutely freezing in the water so nice and refreshing! So we arrived in River Valley just in time for dinner and happy hour! We were all sleeping in a dorm as usually but in River Valley the dorm is just a big room with loads of mattresses chucked on the floor so no-one can sleep while anyone else is up - so it was a long night and i even watched man utd get thrashed by liverpool in the company of a few man utd fans so that was good! And then i was woken up at 8am to be told that we could go rafting after all, having been told the night before that there weren't enough people. The rafting was really good fun but it was a shame there wasn't a bigger and better group doing it. It didn't seem dangerous or too extreme at all and i didn't even fall in at all but did jump in a few times for a swim and a float down the river and also jumped in off a big rock but didn't have a camera for this one! And as soon as we were done rafting it was time to set off on the long journey to Wellington. Oh and we stopped off in a tiny little town called bulls, where they used wordplay in the name of every shop or bar or sign as you can see from the photo of the town hall! So now i'm in the capital of New Zealand and at the end of the North Island!

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Photos

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Lake Taupo

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Some of the guys at the entrance to the Mcdonalds plane!

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Jack chucking some snow about on the mountains.