Weather for Ducks

We woke early this morning and decided to make the most of the nice weather, by heading to Tongariro National Park to see the volcanoes. We had a nice leisurely drive the whole way there and although the scenery wasn't as interesting, it was less hilly and windy for Paul. We arrived at the edge of Tongariro, and no word of a lie; the clouds rolled in and the skies opened - we couldn't see the car in front of us, never mind the volcanoes. A bit disappointed, we decided that we wouldn't let the weather ruin our day (or any of our trip). Like the Glaciers, we decided that we could spend days hanging around, only to become frustrated or travel onwards and use it as an excuse to return to New Zealand again, so we remained in our seats and traveled on to Taupo.

Ciara at Huka Falls

Of course, as expected, we arrived in Taupo to find that we couldn't do any of what we had planned due to weather - even the lookout, over the lake wasn't visible. We decided that the only thing that would be better on a wet day would be a waterfall! So, we headed North of Taupo to Huka Falls. Of course to make our day perfect, we walked the wrong way into the forest and ended up walking over 2 km away from the water fall, before finally deciding to turn around. Huka Falls is where New Zealand's largest river, the Waikato is slammed into a narrow chasm and then makes a spectacular 10m drop into a surging pool where the river then widens again - although not what we expected, it was pretty cool!

Our plans are to spend a bit longer in Rotorua than planned and take in some proper Maori culture! Will keep you informed!

Love,

Paul & Ciara