Te Kowhai Landing Taupo

So, nachdem unsere Jobsuche in Napier weiterhin erfolglos war und uns die Stadt zu langweilig wurde sind wir zurueck nach Taupo gefahren, wo wir einen Wwoofing-Platz gefunden haben (fuer alle die nicht wissen was das ist; Willing Workers on Organic Farms, das heisst wir arbeiten jeden Tag ein paar Stunden und kriegen dafuer Unterkunft und Essen). Wir sind nicht direkt auf einer Farm ...

... br><br>We then had a look around the town and along the Waikato River including some time watching a very high bungy jump.<br>Great drive out past Wairakei Thermal Steam Field where bores tap steam for a power station then on to Huka Falls where the Waikato which drains Lake Taupo passes through a very narrow ...

... is gonna offer, the experience or the people. Which all can be very demanding and challenging yet it can be just as rewarding and exciting...and i found this to be true this afternoon. I was surprised to found myself on a mountain bike, venturing through these trails, through the woods, challenging enough so i got a buzz from it but not too hard so i was oot of my realm and i was loving it!! I thought ...

... who make wise craics about all and sundry and try to scare the bejaysus out of you with tales of how rapid the rapids are and how deep and wild the river is. There's no need - the sight of the 7m waterfall is perfectly sufficient. A Polish guy shares tales of the last tiem he went rafting and someone got her teeth knocked out. I tell him to stop talking immediately if not sooner or he'll be a couple of teeth short ...

... in the water by just millimetres. We screamed and laughed as he continued this for about an hour or so during which he brought us right up to the bottom of Huka Falls and gave us the chance to take photos. With each 360 we got more wet and the poor people in the very front were completely soaked through. The trip ended with a 360 right in front of the pier where we started and just as the people behind us in the back row were saying they handn't got wet at all the water came ...

... a series of waterfalls. It was just too cool. It was also, literally, cool....more like freezing, but we all had a hot shower and some delicious tomato soup afterwards. Kristen and I spent probably an hour at the bar recounting the trip with our new friends Johnny and Carrie, both from England. Johnny has spent the last 9 months travelling around South America. Carrie's been in Australia. the highlight of the night was Mr ...

... fact, I've felt that a lot since leaving a city! After that we went over Arthur's Pass which wasn't as gnarly as everyone made it out to be. I think the old road could have been really sketchy - you could see where it used to be - but the new road has one steep hill and no hair-pin turns. I don't know what everyone was talking about! But the keas that we had heard about were vicious. They're alpine parrots that are really curious naturally and they tend to ...

... rain but how bad could it be after a beaufitul clear day. i was in slight denial. It drizzled overnight then really started at 8am and didn't let up til 5pm or so. But it wasn't just rain, there was also high winds which makes it almost twice as bad. 2 nights before a Kiwi was saying "Oh it's not the rain that is bad here, it's the wind", well now I know. The visibility was for the dogs although that is putting it nicely. Really the funniest part of the day were the 2 ...

... island. As for today being a washout I just took a shuttle bus up to Huka Falls which is a beautiful place. The colour of the water is something else and the strength of the water powers more than 8 hydro electric stations and gives around 15% of electricity to NZ. Other than that I'm sitting writing this wondering what to do for dinner. An early night is called for ...

... well i have to confess, i slept in my own room for 2 nights then Em and I slept in the same room for the last too as we watched a scary movie and we were scared lol what are we like!!! So I ended up spending 3 days in bed, I managed to watch 8 films and 3 episodes of ER, although i did make the effort to venture out the first day for a few hours, not at all the second day and the third night we spent the evening having our last evening meal in the ...