More time in Taupo

The next day was absolutely beautiful, with another completely clear blue sky. So I decided to do a recommended local hike up a far more reasonable mountain (only about an hour to the top). Sarah wasn't up for it (although I tried to explain the benefit of doing a short hike the day after such a huge one), so I had the whole hike pretty much to myself, including the summit with the usual fantastic panoramic views. Along the way up I passed an amazing profusion of Tui bird song, and had to take a short video just to capture the audio. There seemed to be millions of the beautiful birds all warbling away, and I got a great close up view of one of them belting away. After having a lovely leisurely lunch at the summit it was back to the town to visit the local museum, before heading to one of the local Irish bars for dinner and a well attended pub quiz - no prizes for us this time I'm afraid.

The following day beckoned with fantastic weather again, and so this time I really fancied renting bikes. Sarah was a bit reticent at first, but relented and we both had a great day riding around the whole area.

First stop was to have a quick look at the local bungy jumping setup, which was quite quiet but had a lovely setting. Then on to the very impressive Huka Falls just outside the town, after getting a little bit lost on the cycle track. We then continued along a pretty good bike trail alongside the river to a power station (with a fantastic lookout along a forest track (Sarah didn't bother with that short little detour though!)), and then we came back down the far side of the river, stopping off at the quirky prawn farm for a lovely big lunch of fresh prawns, obviously enough. Next stop was the nearby volcanic activity centre, which had some good short movies and displays about the regions many volcanoes, before heading back to the hostel just as darkness set in.

On our last morning in Taupo we popped into the local museum (which has an impressive Maori war canoe, which the attendent told Sarah was a 'waste of space', as it took up valuable art space!). Then it was on towards Rotorua, stopping off on the way at a very impressive thermal area. You need to get a short ferry across the river and then just stroll about at your own pace. Lots of lovely pools of bubbling mud, and steaming vents all over the place, mad mineral formations and a fabulously clear cave pool where you literally can't see where the water starts, it's so pure.