New Zealand, Day 10 (Aug. 11), Lake Taupo, tongariro, Huka Falls, Orakei Korako

 I must have sufficiently whined last night about being beyond exhaustion because Treg let us "sleep in" this morning.  We didn't get up until 8.  Now just for the record, 8 isn't normally sleeping in in my book but for this trip that was heavenly!!  He also sacrificed seeing much of Tongariro by letting us sleep in but we sure appreciated it and were a much happier bunch because of it.

On the drive to Tongariro we came across this funny little hill just in the middle of nowhere.

This is Tongariro.  Unfortunately when we got there is was all clouded in.  Those are 3 volcanoes in a row hidden in the clouds.
It was a bit cold when we got there...like cold enough for snow cold.

We decided to go and have lunch in this little cafe.  It was the BEST food we had the whole trip.  Treg had a Mediterranean pizza with lamb, pine nuts and pesto that was to die for!!
The girls couldn't quite figure out what this was so they finally asked the waitress.  It was a sweet potato of some sort.





It had cleared a bit by the time we left so here is a picture of those volcanoes out of the clouds

Anyone know what this is...anyone....any Lord of the Rings fans??  It's...dun dun dun....MT. DOOM!!...

We set off for our first geothermal area.  They stink to high heaven but they are sooooo cool to look at. Now begins the posts with a billion pictures because I was so fascinated by these areas and couldn't narrow it down to just a couple of pictures.

We took a boat out to Orakei Korako.  We asked the guy what time he was coming back "when you're done" he said.  "How will you know when we're done?"  "I'll just know" he said...OK then.

The steam made the whole island look like it was on fire. It was a bit tricky to get pictures since my lens was freezing cold and the warmth from the geothermal areas kept fogging it up.

Elephant Rock.  Can you see the elephant?

The minerals that collect on the tree branches.



Cool fern/moss stuff
There were all these little cubbies in the rocks that were full of ferns and spider webs




More mushrooms

This is not actually water.  It's a silica fall








Huka Falls had the most gorgeous blue water I have ever seen.  The sun was going down when we got there so it was really difficult to get a picture but it is this clear aqua blue color.

Sunset on the trees

We stayed in a hotel in Taupo.  Because it's a geothermal area they had these hot tubs on the deck of each room.  The hot water comes straight out of the ground.  You just turn on the tap and fill it up.  The girls thought that was pretty awesome.

In almost all of the hotels/motels they give you milk when you check in.  This one did not and Maunia was craving "drinking chocolate".  The kind we bought had to be made with milk.  In the absence of milk she decided to use coffee creamer (are you gagging like we did)  we tried to tell her it was going to be nasty but she was determined.  She took one sip...and...well ya....nasty!

The girls were so fascinated by the signs in New Zealand.  They liked these two showing your car sliding to a horrid death and people falling in a large puddle and suffering major bodily harm.  Apparently water is very dangerous in New Zealand.