Taupo to River Valley

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Today we are due to leave Taupo and catch our first kiwi bus to River Valley.

We are quite excited but scared at the same time. We get to the bus stop and meet a fellow kiwi traveller who tries to reassure us.

As we were not sure what to expect we were horrified to hear that the buses were full and people are on waiting lists to get in and out of places. This combined with the unexpected adventures we would encounter on the way to places pushed us over the edge.

We were wanting and expecting a bus to get us from A to B.Oh well we had best remain positive.

Our first landmark was the 3 mighty volcanoes at the Tongariro national park (we understand at this point that without the kiwi bus we would not be able to see/admire these beautiful places)

Another highlight was the fact that most of the Lord of the Rings was filmed here.

Thanks to our driver/ guide Steve we were able to try the best pies in the area.

we then completed the 2 hour loop walk around Taranaki falls almost without a hitch (during the last half hour Rob kicked a rock and split his toe open).

After an hours drive we reached our base for the evening-River Valley Adventure Lodge, me and Rob decided we deserved a treat so booked ourselves into a private double and booked the home made roast beef dinner (Kerry craved this all round Australia) yum.

We sat sharing tales of our travels over dinner and retired to bed once the drinking games started.

Needless to say we had a great nights sleep-the only negative-having to go outside to the toilet.

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