Lake Taupo

Well its pouring rain and most people would stay indoors but we decide to go whitewater rafting and boy was it fun!!! We left Whakapapa Village and headed for the Tongariro River rapids and guess what? We weren’t the only crazy family out on the water! Another family from England were in the second boat. We were fitted out in all the gear to keep us warm – wetsuits, booties, fleece jackets, beanies, helmets and life jackets and into the bus for a short journey to the top of the river. We lugged the boat into the river and we were off! The river was high, due to the large amount of rain the night before so there was a lot of opportunities to get wet with waves and Amayah screamed every time the water came in the boat. Hamish did really well padding away and Celeste took to it like a duck to water, loving every minute of it. It was cold but about half way through the trip, our guide gave us hot chocolate and some chocolate fish (choc covered marshmallow). There was an opportunity to jump in the river and even though it was freezing cold, we all plunged in!!! Our feet were wet and cold but we soon warmed up and headed to Lake Taupo in the afternoon. The rain continued but we drove around the lake, stopped for groceries, filled up the water in the tank and found another nice freedom camping spot right on the lake.Read more