So arrived in Taupo in the dark and found a place next to the lake to park the camper. The next morning we wake up to a gorgeous day, sun out and blue sky and an amazing view. We could see right across the huge lake of Taupo, with the snow capped mountains in the background. We went for a walk before breakfast along the lake and stopped to look at the golf challange. the challange was to hit a ball from the side of the lake into one of the holes on a small pitch floating quite a few metres from the shore. After brekkie we drove off to find the volcanoes, expecting to find some rockie looking peaks. There were three of them in the national park and one of them played Mt Doom in lord of the rings. Well the volcanoes were all covered in snow, one of them had a plateau were the top had blown off and a lake now sits. You could see gas coming off the top and seeping down the side. We decided against doing the 8 hour walk across the two volcanoes and just drove around to some cool viewpoints. After driving back we ate very a very nice Pizza Hut and then went to a cafe so I could eat dessert. I had a really nice Lemon Merang Pie, mmmm. 27th June Yes we stayed somewhere more than a day! Today we started off by going to a spa, heated by the thermal activity. It was lovely and relaxing. The water was green and very warm. After wallowing about for quite a while we headed off to have lunch by Huka Falls. The water fall (see pics) was extremly fast flowing and apparently the most photographed waterfalls in the world! After lunch we drove for quite a while to a geothermal park called Orakei Korako, near Rotorua. Here we took a boat to a 'hidden valley'. We saw lots of gushing geysers, hot springs and boiling mud pools, cool. The earths crust becomes thin around here and silica form interesting terraces, which are multi-coloured due to the different bacteria growing on them. The 'geothermal wonderland' also has a really interesting cave with warm water at the bottom, which you can barely see, and if your not careful step into. I also forgot to mention because of all the sulphur being released the whole place stinks! Stayed the night in Rotorua which also stunk.