Hi, now in Taupo travelled down yesterday stopped on the way at Wai-o-tapu thermal wonderland, more of the same - bubbling pools etc. but a lot more colourful, some of the pool colours looked totally unatural, they had names like the Champagne pool, devil's bath and artists palette, really stunning. We also encountered Huka Falls on the way down which is where the Waikoto river suddenly gets squeezed through a small valley and there is an amazing waterfall, we looked down on it from the veiwpoint then decided to go up to it on one of the jet boats. It was touch and go whether Joe would get on 'cause of his height but he just managed to scrape through and he was their youngest customer apparently. Anyway we were in this jet boat bombing up the river doing 360o turns every now and again, it was quite hair-raising and damp!! We stopped at the bottom of the falls - an amazing experience, really exhilarating, the boys loved it - they have a great sense of adventure and will basically go along with most things we suggest - they've drawn the line at bungy jumping though! After that experience we headed on to our campsite, another one of the family freindly ones with pool, playground, jumping pillow etc. Massive site and not many people on it but they still managed to put all 7 campervans right next to each other. Anyway, the kids love it. Today we drove down to Lake Taupo - the largest lake in New Zealand and the size of Singapore apparently! We hired kayaks for an hour and paddled round the lake (not the whole lake) it was idyllic. Then this afternoon we went to the hot springs pools and Al had a massage while the kids and I played in the water playground, aqua slide and hot pools - it was lovely. Had tea out overlooking the lake then back to the site for bed. I must say we are all sleeping surprisingly well in the van and haven't felt the need to check in to a motel yet. Hope you're not too cold! Emx