Rotorua and Lake Taupo

Started our day 3 in Rotorua, a town known for its geothermal activity. While that makes it a great town to see, it's not a great town to smell. Sulphur smells everywhere- Will said he didn't mind but I wasn't the biggest fan. There were so many recommended sites we decided to try and see how many we could hit- I'll try to be brief:

• Waiotapu Mud Pools- bubbly/smoky mud

• Kerosene Creek- a heated stream

• Crater Lake - views of a heated geothermal pool with Rainbow Mountain in the background

• Redwoods, Whakarewarewa Forest- Hike/quarry loop

• Lookout spot of the lake- really our first time going out to see the lake

• Thermal Foot baths in the local park

• Sunset at Hannah's Bay

We packed it in!

Set off today for Lake Taupo. On the way we stopped at the Aratiatia Rapids and watched them release the dam to quickly fill the calm river beds below.

Kept heading south and stopped at Huka Falls. While they're not very tall, the appeal is that a calm river all of a sudden hits a ravine of volcanic rock and creates rapids that barrel into the falls.

We made it to Lake Taupo and went to the Spa Thermal Park. We found the river that flows down from Huka falls and more thermal pools. There was a long walking track that had a cave somewhere along the way. It was completely unmarked and after some misguidance from a fellow hiker (I might have stepped and fallen through a tree) we found the caves. They were pretty spooky with holes you could climb through that led you to more sections of the cave. Splunking isn't really our thing, so we both declined and took the safe route back to the car.

We grabbed a late lunch/snack and then walked to the lake. They have this challenge where you can try and win $10,000 if you hit a hole in one. The platform with the hole is in the middle of the lake and it's extremely tough with the wind, but evidently 124 people have won. Will had been missing the game so I think he was happy to just hit the ball. & no he didn't win....

Took the scenic route out of town and enjoyed some gorgeous views of the rolling hills and a snowy Mt. Tongariro in the distance.