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Published: February 14th 2007
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Taupo is only a short drive from Rotorua but we stopped a couple of times along the way, firstly at Waiotapu, where there is a great geyser (Lady Knox Geyser) that erupts once a day with a little assistance from some soap suds poured down the hole on top. We also discovered Kerosene lake which is the best hot spring and some amazing mud pools that were accessed for free and surpassed anything we had previously paid for. The rest of thermal park was pretty good as well, took a few hours to walk around but was well worth the effort.
Next stop was Orakei Koraka which was rated highly by Lonely Planet, why I dont know, it was expensive and not as good as what we had seen earlier in the day, still it was better than Rotorua. One more stop at Huku falls on the way to Taupo was worth a look although it looks more like a spill way than a true water fall.
Got ourselves a motel room right on the lake and dumped our bags before walking down to the harbour to see about a boat cruise on the lake, we booked a trip
Boiling mud
On the way to Taupo on a sailing ship for 5pm and then retired to an Irish Pub for a Guiness before heading back to the hotel for rest. The boat was called the Barbary and was once owned by Errol Flynn, we set off across the lake to see some Maori carvings. The boat sailed at about 45 degrees most of the way there and Ruth and I got thoroughly soaked, but finally after about an hour we arrived at our destination, the carvings I think were done just to lure tourists and were only about 30 years old. Still trhe photo's look pretty good and it was a damn good day.
Early start againas we take the short drive to Tongariro National Park, where we wanted to see the 3 peaks, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu - Ngauruhoe was used as Mt Doom in the LOTR trilogy, and has a very impressive conical single vent volcano and is about 2500 years old. Mt Ruapehu is the tallest mountain in the North Island and has snow covering its peaks.
We took a few photos then did a short walk in the park before driving up to the ski lodges on Ruapehu the scenery
Geyser
Ready to blow was fascinating, its easy to see why this area was chosen to represent Mordor, we were going to take the chairlift up towards the summit but the weather was deteriorating rapidly and we didnt want to get soaked so we turned around and headed to Waitomo.
We have booked a unit in an old 1950 vintage Bristol Freighter Aircraft which is just something a little unique, it is self contained with a large double bed, TV and an ensuite. Headed into a nearby town called Otorohanga for some breakfast supplies had a bit of a look around town before heading back to our plane. We then went to the cave museum which was interesting.
The plane is on a farm so there are animals everywhere, there is also a train carriage appartment, a ship and a heap of hobbit hole rooms as well.
I have been sick for a few days I think its the diet and the dodgy weather it rains at night then is muggy as shit all day, nobody has ever heard of airconditioning here so we seem to sweat all night.
Got a couple of phone calls late in the day I
Geyser
Here we go have another interview when I get back to Adelaide and I have been offered a job in Canberra.
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