My Public Bath

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Lets get it out of the way straight away. I did not jump out of a plane today. It rained all day, literally. Bummer! So, what did I do with my day? well...

I decided to hire a bike out from one of the hostels in town, a nice little mountain bike for the day and not bad for about 12quid. Began my day by making the ride to Acacia Bay, about 5km around the lake from Taupo. I decided to bike to here for the serene beaches boasted in lonely planet...guess you need good weather to fully appreciate them. Quite a nice little ride though, and also the driest one of the day so i enjoyed it the most! On returning to Taupo, i rode the other way round the lake along to 5-mile beach. Some amazing water front properties, and hate to think what some of them are worth. On my way back, I stopped at hot water beach. It still doesnt cease to amaze me that you can have hot streams and stuff. One comes right out onto some rocks by the lake, producing some hot pools, too hot in fact, though the ducks seemed content!

Decided to head back to the hostel and just have some cereal for lunch, whilst drying off for a bit, glad I did because I got to meet a few people which was cool. After lunch, I made the decision to bike the 8km or so along the river to the Aratia rapids, whilst stopping at the hot stream i passed the day before. Because of the rain, there were very few people at the stream, so i found myself a nice little spot, a bit more secluded. It was here I realised I had forgotten my boardies. Obviously I did what any self-respecting person would do, I went in naked, what, it was secluded! Or at least I though it was. Two ladies got a bit of a shock when they saw by bottom, but they had a giggle about it. Spent a while here, just because it was soo nice, particularly with the light rain coming down as well.

"Dried" and ready to go, I continued along the river, and got to do some proper off road biking which was quite cool, though not being used to it, I got a bit carried away at times, and had a few close calls, oops. No harm done though. It took a lot longer that I though, or at least it felt it, before I finally got to the rapids. However, because I was worn out, I didnt bother making the half hour walk to the view point! Biked back to Taupo along the road but its here that I must complain about lonely planet. The guide book shows a reasonably straight road, its not, its windy, with some horrible climbs. At one point I wanted to just give up, wet and cold, but knew i had to get back! On arrival back into town, i treated myself to a cake from the bakery, before taking the bike back and then heading home.

Showered and did some washing back at the hostel, before hitting the lounge. Got talking to people from lunch, plus others, and a group of about 8 of us made plans to go watch the rugby which was cool. Headed out after tea to an irish bar to watch it, where else! Not much of an atmosphere and actually spent half the game talking to people and not paying attention, though tis not like it was wales....thankfully it seems!! After the game, we all got ice creams before returning to the hostel to watch a film. Most people gave up during the first one and went to bed, but myself and one other stayed up to watch good morning vietnam as well, great film! Eventually went to bed around 2 I think.

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