Taupo

It was a chilly 46 when we woke up this morning.  Makes getting out of a warm bed in an unheated camper less than inviting!  It warms up quickly, though, and the days are in the mid-to-upper 70's.

We started the day with a morning  lake sail - well, not really.  There was no wind, so the captain said we'd have the sails up to "look pretty," but we were under power.  Fortunately, it was very quiet electric motor.  There were about 10 people onboard the Barbary, a 1927 boat which is thought to have belonged to Erroll Flynn in the 20's.

It was a perfect morning, with mountains all around, one of them puffing steam out the side.  The lake, which is huge, is in the crater of a still somewhat active volcano.  It's over 600 feet deep and bubbling at the bottom.  There are also beaches with warm water bubbling in.  The folks that live around here are counting on these little pressure releases to keep the big (really big) volcano quiet.  The mountain spewing steam had a small eruption last November.

We sailed out to see some Maori rock carvings on a cliff at the side of the lake.  They were done recently, in the 70's I think, by a local artist.  Impressive.

After lunch in Big Blue, our trusty, if ugly, camper, we walked about 3 km. on a track leading out of town to Huka Falls.  The track was along the stunning Waikato River, with it's beautiful, clear deep green, aquamarine, and turquoise water.  This is the longest river in NZ, going from Lake Taupo to the sea at Auckland.  The falls were not high, but wild, and lovely light turquoise with lots of white foam.

Then back to the campground for another soak in the thermal pool before dinner.  Wonderfully relaxing day!