Flag Inn Sails Motor Lodge Taupo

... the inner tube of the person in front of him, who then grabs his toes. Next person does the same, all the way up the line, until we're an 11 person caterpillar. Again, no lights, as we float down a narrow underground river, using hands and elbows to maneuver between the narrow rocks on either side. After a few minutes, guide tells us to turn our lights on so we can see what we're doing, and we "raft" a few more minutes.<br><br>Later, we ...

... br><br>We then spent most of the afternoon driving to Wanganui, making it in time to visit the glass blowing studio (the trade for which Wanganui is famous), where we bought a very cool souvenir glass duck.<br><br>Danielle then served up some chicken fajitas in a holiday park kitchen rammed to the brim with kids on a rowing trip (it has to be said that this involved a small amount of stress)<br><br>

... up to do the Tongariro crossing the day after I arrived. It's one of the best one day walks in NZ, but it got cancelled due to alpine conditions in the mountains. I'd also signed up to do the skydive, which was very dependant on the weater. I'd been told to sky dive whereever I got the opportunity, but I wanted to wait for Taupo because it's famous and one of the cheaper sky dives. This meant I was relying on good weather when I was there. On the first day, it was ...

... song than Bobby Jindal could have ever written also.) The "tatoos" were magic marker. And one of the guys in traditional garb as a part of the show changed into an Addidas jumpsuit afterwards to serve the food. (Again, signs of the "Americanization" of the world everywhere.) It was just so funny the disconnect between the words and discussions of "culture" and the fact it was all a show. I, of course, shot off an e-mail to ...

... first so i wouldnt have time to let my panic escalate, i am infact second! Elad straps me too him, quite tightly which helps the nerves, i then start to quietly panic, i dont cry much just a little, and i was breathing deeply to stop the tears, Elad thought i was hyperventalating, all in all i was quite impressed with how relatively calm i was!! Then All of a sudden the light next to my head goes green and before i know it the door is up and the girl ...

... I have to go and collect the tickets in Wellington next week... According to the manager at the site I'm on these tickets are as rare as hens teeth so I'm well pleased.... :-) My plan for Taupo originally was to walk the Tongariro Northern circuit a 3 - 4 day trek in the national park staying in back country huts, but as I've been feeling under the weather I may now ...

... during our stay at Lake Taupo was at the Youth Hostel and after 3 nights we decided that perhaps we should stop pretending to be quite so youthful!! The irony was that once we started looking at alternative accommodation we discovered we could stay in some really excellent places for the same price and some cases for even less!!!! From Lake Taupo we travelled east to the town of Napier, described in promotional leaflets as the Art Deco capital of the world.

... exchange rate I got it for a reasonable price too. Stayed in Auckland all morning and had a walk around the compact city centre which is dominated by the Sky tower, the biggest structure in the southern hemisphere. Then hit the road again and drove south towards Rotorua. Rotorua is New Zealand's most popular tourist town with an unbelievable 3 million visitors a year. Visitor's flock here to see the geological activity which can been seen all ...

... get to two places at once. I was used to spending the whole day in the car just driving to get somewhere, which is exactly like what OZ is like but here you could get to two towns in the one day - bonus bro! Lake Taupo was very nice also, the next day after stayin a night in Taupo we took a not of a walk up to see around the lake, was excellent.