50km Taupo

We never got to do the Tongariro crossing sadly, visibility and wind speeds were too dangerous, we were so disappointed as we had deliberately scheduled 3.5 days in Taupo so that hopefully one of the days would have good enough weather to be able to do it! We can't complain though we had a really fantastic time and managed to walk around 50km without doing the crossing!! 

We set off to walk around the lake on our second day. We went around clockwise aiming to make it to 5 mile bay. (We weren't sure where the five miles came from). The weather wasn't as blue as we like but we couldn't grumble. The lake was huge and the views quite spectacular. 

We reached our aim and sat down to a picnic in not ideal picnicking conditions but we were proud we'd bought our has. 

Walking lake Taupo

Hot water stream

Chilly picnic

With pretty snazzy views. 

The heavens opened so we decided to hot foot it back before we got completely soaked. This plan didn't quite work and our waterproof trousers got their first proper work out. We headed somewhere nice for coffee and cake, it was super nice to have a hot drink in our bellies and to indulge in our first cake of New Zealand :) Our hostel had good films and sky tv so after our long walks we decided to have an evening in and keep warm with hot chocolates. 

The next day we felt we needed to seize the day again. We noticed that the sky was blue, I might finally be able to do my skydive. Amy had already done one at home and so it was my turn to brave the adrenaline. Luckily it went ahead and Amy came too for moral support. It was the most incredible feeling with the best views I have ever seen. Luckily I didn't fall out of the sky into the lake which was my biggest fear  

Looking keen!

Parachute!

The rest of the day we decided to walk anticlockwise around the lake. Reaching a gorgeous point called Acacia Bay. The views were really nice, with expensive houses and really snazzy looking taught a. We were however walking with the intention of reaching a cafe to have a hot drink. Acacia Bay was much more of a residential area than a cafe spot so we ended up walking quite a lot further than we expected before having a bite to eat! 

So many sheep on the walk

Tramping around the countryside 

TAUPO! 

The next day again the Tongariro crossing was cancelled, after a wander around Taupo and a hot drink stop we were off to Napier for the evening. 

Napier was really bizarre, It's completely Art Deco as it was destroyed in the earthquake and rebuilt solely around that time. It's like nowhere we've been before, it feels like you're on a film set, there are very few people around, it feels deserted, but really interesting architecture. We walked up Bluff hill and watched a stunning sunset. 

Back down in the town we strolled around looking at the christmas-esq lights and the cool buildings. We had dinner at a local fish and chip place before heading to McDonald's (we caved) for a mcflurry. It seemed that all the people that had deserted the town centre were in fact in the industrial park at all the fast food joints (the queue for KFC was out the door!) 

The next day we walked to Ahuhiri for breakfast. It was the best breakfast ever! 

Amy had scrambled egg and toast whilst I had gluten free French toast with caramelised banana and bacon (better than any gluten free option Id ever come across at home!) 

The breakfasts 

And a banana smoothie

We were a little too full and sleepy to tackle the rest of the day but we still managed to go to the Napier museum. It had an interesting exhibition on the 1970s earthquake and the reason behind the Art Deco revival of Napier. 

After this we jumped on the bus to head down to Wellington where we were to spend a day before embarking on the South Island!