Lake Taupo

This morning we started out, after a nice little rain shower during the night, with a jaunt to see Huka falls. It is a wild churning mass of white water with a 7 meter drop at the end. And supposedly some people kayak off it. Crazy! We also visited a geothermal area called Craters of the Moon which has a really nice path that goes around thru steam vents and boiling mud. Like yellowstone in ways but a lot different vegetation. At times it even looks like the moors in Scotland. This whole area from the Tangariro area all the way out to White Island north of the Bay of Plenty is an active geo thermal area. The last sizeable eruption was only in 1975. After a quick tour of the city of Taupo and a lunch on the shores of lake Taupo ( a huge lake which is a volcanic crater ) we spent some time at a natural hot springs area. They had some really hot pools and then also some big pools that were nice and warm. Very relaxing. It felt good to just veg for a bit as we really have been on the go alot. This evening we are spending in the shadow of the 3 volcanos that make up the Tangariro Nat'l Park area. There is some really serious mountains here. We had thought that we would try part of the Alpine Crossing here but realized that we aren't nearly set up for it Oh well, some other trip...