Day 6 - Taupo to River Valley Lodge

We were lucky enough to finally wake up to a clear day in Taupo. Before we jumped on the bus I ran to the shore to catch a glimpse of those mountains that had been hiding behind cloud for two days.

We then made our way around Lake Taupo, picked up those who managed a skydive window at 7am this morning and had breakfast in a cute cafe in Turangi.

Tongariro crossing was cancelled for us due to the weather, which I'm really disappointed about, so guess I'll just have to come back and do that!

Monsters we drove to the highest point of our tour, whakapapa which means, 'stands in the sky' - really loving these poetic Maori names.

The Tongariro national park is a world heritage site and is known as an alpine desert. We hiked for an hour up the mountain trail to catch a glimpse of Mount Doom (Ngauruhoe) and the snowy peak of Ruapehu.

We stopped for a breather at a waterfall, where I went back to the years of my childhood and couldn't resist a climb behind the water. It also gave me a chance to stare into the glistening waters and rainbow reflections and admire the region.

We were climbing Ruapehu, a parasite volcano that helps to relieve pressure from the main vent. Tongariro used to be the tallest of the three peaks, but has receded since its last eruption. Now the peak of Ruapehu holds the record for highest altitude. The last eruption from the active peaks was in 2013, not that long ago. Half way up our trek we heard an air raid siren and thought that maybe it was time to run for our lives, but no eruption for us!

After that, we travelled down the road for 10mins where we indulged in some more Lord of the airings action, at Gollum's pool - where the famous scene of Gollum's slapping a fish about was filmed. Couldn't resist my own reenactment - video to follow.

Then it was a 2hr drive, via some snowless ski towns and the rangatake hill region, to River valley lodge, our destination for today - where the water is currently running at 35cubic metres per second. Perfect white water rafting flow! 

Our dive was made easier by the constant entertainment of sheep running away from the road at the sound of our big green bus revving up the hillsides, and by the appearance of at least 5 birds of prey and lots of deer within the same stretch of road.

So after some stunning rolling hills, a turn at winching myself across the river in the dark, booking our buses for the rest of the trip and venturing out into the outside toilets in the middle of the night, we played a few drinking games and headed up for the early start tomorrow.

Oh and poor Barney became the first victim of the marker pen...