Well deserved restbite in Taupo.

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The last four days in Taupo have been so lovely. Now I'm not saying I'm relieved to be out the campervan, I love the thing BUT.. Words can't describe how nice it has been to relax in one place, spread out in a REAL bed that we don't have to put up ourselves every night and shower without wearing your flip flops. Plus having the amazing hospitality we have received from my aunt and uncle hasn't gone amiss. The weather has absolutely been stunning, 30 degrees and clear blue skies every day.... FINALLY. God love Taupo.

On the Friday we went on the Huka Jet on the Waikato river (the longest river in New Zealand) to the famous Huka falls. The jet was a twin engine V6 jet boat, reaching speeds of 80 km/ph dashing by rock faces and doing 360 degree spins. On the jet we went right up close to the falls, which a lot of boats wouldn't be able to do but because of the sheer power of ours we were fortunate enough to be able too and get a great view because of it! Huka falls is a volcanic ledge just north of Lake Taupo which the Waikoto river flows through. The normally 100m width river is forced abruptly through a 20m rocky gorge and at this point it creates the falls. Every second 220,000 litres of water gushes through and shoots 8m beyond to create a stunning blue/green foaming pool below. It is spectacular and after the huka jet ride we went and visited the falls on foot and got some great shots! In the evening we went to two mile bay with my cousin Michelle and her husband Ken and my Aunt and Uncle for some good old fashioned kiwi fish and chips. This time with the addition of a paua fritter, which is basically a native large edible sea snail, that we actually got rich to try after some peer pressure from my Uncle. Safe to say he won't be ordering that next time we have a chippy tea. It was a lovely evening though, and the sunset was absolutely amazing.

In the morning we took my Aunties dog for a walk to the lakefront, a caboodle Bichon called Harvey who's a little rat bag, I'm a bikini down thanks to him, but the absolute cutest. We decided to rent some jet skis on the lake in the afternoon for an hour. It was a great way to see the lake with some amazing scenery and got the adrenalin going speeding round on one of them. I did spend most of the hour making sure my raybans didn't fall off, I didn't fall off and consequently gaining some beautiful looking bruises on my arse. But Rich loved it. In the evening we had a family bbq in the sun followed by a kiwi classic pavlova, my uncles speciality, which was delicious.

On Sunday, we took the trip to Waitomo to go on a glow worm cave tour. The tour was really interesting, we got to go into the depths of the caves, see all the stalactites and stalagmites, rock formations and the cathedral (main area of the cave). We learnt about the origins of glow worms, maggots essentially, who when babies have little glow in the dark tails which shine giving them the name glow worms, and how they develop and breed in the cave. The boat trip at the end was the real highlight... thousands and thousands of glow worms dotted the roof of the cave as we passed through looking like stars in the night sky. It was a stunning sight.

Leaving Taupo... Next stop... My home from home... WELLINGTON!

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