White Water Fun

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A free day in Taupo meant that we had some time for a stroll around (and to buy Zoe a new winter coat!). We went for a walk through a Thermal Spa Park to a waterfall called the Huka Falls; it's more of a rapid than a waterfall, and the power of it is amazing. We then managed to get fish & chips, before an early night in order to get up @ 3am for the England game (though they tried their best to send us back to sleep) - bumped into some people that we'd met in Fiji, despite the fact that neither of us were staying at the hostel in which we were watching the match!!

The Kiwi bus then took us up through part of the Tongariro National Park to River Valley Lodge. This gave us our first taste of snow on this trip (won't be the last), and we also stopped off for photos at the mountain used as Mt Doom in Lord Of The Rings. River Valley is at the bottom of a gorge/valley (as the name suggests!), and the sole purpose of going there is for the White Water Rafting. It was a proper lodge, with a lovely open fire & roast dinner in the evening (and toasted marshmallows!) - just right with the snow outside!

The Rafting started with some fairly gentle rapids, but soon stepped up to Grade 5 rapids - crazy, but absolutely brilliant! Going over the rapids gave you such an adrenaline buzz & we were all cheering after getting over them! There were 3 boats in our party, and none of us fell in - but they showed us a video of the groups before us, who had a massive wipeout! Everyone was absolutely frozen (especially the hands, as they said we didn't "need" gloves - a matter of opinion I think!!).

We're now in Wellington (in seperate dorms I might add - Zoe's in a special girls-only "Sanctuary dorm", which includes champagne & fluffy towels!! Went to the Te Papa museum today, and saw a lot about Maori/New Zealand history as well as a Lord Of The Rings exhibition. Then went for a (free) tour around the NZ Houses of Parliment, and sat in the public gallery watching them argue!!

Off to the South Island tomorrow for a trek on a glacier & some boarding/skiing.....

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Comments

[Dad]

Sorry missed you
Hi Daniel, sorry missed you,am home all this weekend so try again, glad you are both enjoying N.Z. love to Zoe