Only the water got to fall...sob!

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We spent a couple of days in Taupo, which sits on the edge of a huge volcanic caldera which is now NZ's biggest lake, with one aim...to throw ourselves out of an aeroplane. However, people will be saddened (or relieved in Emma's Mum's case) to learn that the weather thrice thwarted our plans, although we were close...close as in wearing the jump suits and waiting for the cloud cover to clear so the plane could take off!

Instead we visited the impressive Huka Falls and adjacent "Craters of the Moon" thermal area and spent a day in the town of Te Awamutu - famous for being the birth place of the Finn brothers of Crowded House and Split Enz fame (and therefore one of Emma's favourite places in the whole world!!) and were thrilled by such sights as the brothers birthplace, schools and the electrical shop where Neil Finn worked before fame came knocking - the only place we couldn't really find was the home of their piano teacher (but we didn't look very hard). Still, Emma now has her "Te Awamutu - Home Of Neil And Tim Finn" souvenir pen so the day was a resounding success.

After our few days in Taupo were up we detoured south around the Tongarairo National Park (site of Mount Doom, Mordor and other LOTR locations) before heading northwards in search of some better weather.

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