Cutters Lake View Motor Inn Taupo

... bleak and has the added danger that if you found yourself lost in the middle of it, you wouldn’t only be very high, very exposed and very lost you’d also have a high probability of getting shot or blown up. As it is NZ main army training ground.
I didn’t’ see anyone training but I expect that is the idea, it used to be all red coats and impressive hats but now I think they are little bit more subtle. Kinda ...

... work and that we were low on fuel we said no and he offered us his car to sit in if we walked down the hill. Getting our things together to leave the car, ricardo must of asked the car in front if they minded us sharing there heater! He came back and told us to go to the car in front. We got into a lovely warm car and this is where we met chris and barbara. Lovely couple, bit crazy too but we kept each other company and the hours soon past ...

... With Dinosaurs here.

We got back in the van and drove to Haka Falls, which were amazing and the water looks really clear and cool blue. (Its probably freezing though!)

We then had lunch at the prawn farm, and had the best prawns we have ever eaten. Yum!

We have now headed onto the Hawkes Bay area, the wine growing region of NZ, and hope to go wine tasting!

After flying through the interior, we came across Lake Taupo, along the start of the Thermal Highway.  Thermals and hot springs are found on the side of the road every few KM.  Had to just pass through with a short stop at Lake Taupo to hit Rotorua before dark sets in.  Will certainly swing ...

... up and smile at her. "Do you understand german?" she asks, adjusting her glasses and staring up at me. "No, no.. ha ha, don't worry. Your conversation is secure." "No, I was just talking with my mother, because I was supposed to do a skydive today, but the weather is bad, so it is cancelled. But she calls me and she says "Are you okay? Are you alive?" "Yes, yes, mom. It was cancelled. I'm still alive" ha ha. And now I am not sure if I will do it. Maybe it is a sign." We get to ...

... took each other's pictures. The view up top is spectacular. Behind Doom is a Mount Ruapehu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rua pehu). Just beautiful, and there are two volcanic lakes between Doom and Ruapehu. Looking in the other direction, you can see all of the crossing, to the Red Crater, and all the way to the "blue lake." Beyond is Lake Taupo, and I could even see Mount Tuahara, which ...

... huge, you could see blacks all over the place that have been spit out during a explosion. The emerald lakes were beautiful and we got near Mt Nghaurhoe, Mt Doom in Lord og the Rings - you could picture just as it was in the movie Last but not least my skydive fronm 12,000 feet - wow what a rush, amazing. Jumping off from so far up was spine tingling - loved it and the view of the lake and the surrounding hills - not a bad way to see iit

... activity... simply, volcanoes... the distance between the land surface and hot geothermal materials is very short so, there is literally steam coming from the ground in many areas... cool huh? i think so. thus, there are hot springs everywhere... and in the instance of this hot water park, the cold river water meets hot spring water and you have a comfortable area where the water is warm to bathe/swim in... interesting huh? i think so...

... s weird to be in places where the main way to get around is by car and there aren't crosswalks on every corner. Distances are farther to get to the stores etc, or they might just feel farther because there are not buildings or things to look at every step of the way on the walk to different points in town. It's also different adjusting to the fact that most buildings here are not more than three stories high, most are only one or two. Hungry..

... only went in two. The first was had millions of glow worms and was where they filmed part of BBC's Planet Earth. We switched all the lights off and went through the cave on a boat- it was like a theme park ride but the lights weren't artificial! The next cave had great examples of stalagtites and stalagmites and we learnt lots about them as we had some very inquisitive children on our trip! That evening we headed to Maketu fo "Uncle Boy's Place" for an evening of ...