Long Weekend.

I'm going to be off further north into the island and do some exploring and site seeing.First driving up to Tai Hapa and staying at a lovely backpackers place along the river in canyon. The place is about 35 min away from Tai Hapa. Sunday going for a full day horse ride, which will be amazing i think. On Monday, off to Lake Taopo, and see Huka falls, taste some honey and see the volcanoes, and hot water springs. That is the plan, and hopefully i will have enough time to all this before i need to drive back on the Tuesday.

here are some pictures of the time away.

My rented car



The amazing roadways



All the sheep in a row



The lovely rolling hills with the sheep everywhere



me having a round of pitch golf on the sheep fields at the lodge i was staying


The view of the golf course



the river vallye lodge


On top of the world


View while horse riding. we went right to the top of the hills. Great time.


Me horse riding for a full day


Jess, the guide, on her horse



More views of the horse ride





Mt Ruapehus in the Tongariro National park



the red crator in the tongaria national park. Very lucky that the sky was so clear that day. I should have gone for the tongaria crossing walk and got up real close then.



Tongaria waterfall



Mt Tongariro and the red crator in the middle



Mt Tongaria, the volcano



Huka falls


Craters of the moon



champagne pool at Waiopato



Lady knox geyser



lady knox spouting out steam. the water coming out is actually cold when it lands of your skin.

Maori greeting


Maori greeting with the rest of the people



Pohutu, largest geyser in the southern hemisphere. This geyser blows out steam every 10 to 20 mintues for 20 to 40 mintues



The mud pools, bubbling away



the amazing rail way designs across valleys



The steep limestone cliffs along the rivers



the curious sheep on the rolling hills



the road, nice and winding



Lake Rotopauna, which had the most amazing big trees



View of lake Taupo, the largest inland lake in the world



Some of the landscapes while drivig up to River valley lodge, and finally seeing loads of sheep


My sleeping accomodation at the River Valley lodge



Gravity Canyon, here people do the bungy juming, and the new thing, the fly fox. From a height of 117m 3 people lying on a board with the stomach, get sent down and can reach a speed of up too 160km/h. scary stuff