Hot Rocks

Just before we left the South Island, after a hard day wine tasting in Marlborough (started at 10am at the Montanna Vinyard) I took Gav for some mussels in a place called Havelock. Havelock claims to be the green lipped muscle capital of the world. The muscles were huge mutants. But he said they tasted good.

We spent the next day in the capital, Wellington. We went to a couple of museums and then did a bit of book shopping. There wasn't much else to do, so we headed north to Napier.

Napier was flattened by an earthquake in 1931, then totally rebuilt in the next 2 years, so the whole town centre is Art Deco. It was fascinating, we did a self-guided walking tour - we didn't realise there were so many different Art Deco styles. It's like being in the 1930's but with modern stuff in the shops . Unfortunately none of the pictures really did it justice (GO had the camera) - the starbucks one is the best. But if you're ever in New Zealand, visit Napier.

After Napier we headed inland, a 2-3 hour drive. Before we set off , I suggested we get more petrol (in the countryside,ie. most of NZ, petrol stations are few and far between). Gav didn't want to though.

The journey was up and down hills so the van was drinking petrol. 50km from Taupo (our destination), in the middle of no-where the needle was on empty, but Mr Owen was still claiming we'd make it. Then out of no-where there was a cafe/shack with a petrol pump outside - brilliant - that Owen luck again. But no - the owner said they'd stopped selling petrol years ago. The price on the pump was $1.36 (aprox 45p a litre)

We made it - there was another petrol station, so gav didn't have to hitch into town.

Taupo is a termal hotspot, the town is on the edge of New Zealand's biggest lake - the size of Singapore.It was created by the worlds biggest volcanic erruption in the last 5000 years - they reckon it was so big it was even commented on in China and Rome/Greece.

We wanted to do some walking. We saw a fantastic water fall, that has tempted us to give white water rafting a go when our budget looks a bit healthier. The water was so blue, it looked fake.
At the end of the trail there was a warm stream. I'm afraid gav wouldn't let me publish the pics of him bathing in his Y fronts so you just get my feet - I can't believe even my feet look fat. It was so hot it turned my legs pink. After that we went on another walk to the 'Craters of the Moon" - where steam just comes out of the ground - it was very strange.

Taupo is also famous for trout, so we thought we'd treat ourselves to a meal out tonight, but we can't find anwhere serving it so it looks like it will be noodles in the van again.