this morning we backtracked and drove south out to tongariro national park since we were unable to view it yesterday due to the weather and our late start. we went to whakapapa ski field and the tawhai falls. while i was there, i finally took a picture of a kiwi crossing sign. there was snow at the ski field and it was really cool to see the place in the winter because when we visited in march, i just could not picture the dry land with snow.

kiwi crossing sign finally captured on 'film'

whakapapa ski field

idiots beware

taupo is known for it's brown trout and california rainbow trout

we arrived back in taupo briefly to take a picture of the big trout by the lakefront that i had not taken a photo of all this time, to eat a late lunch, and to do a little gift/souvenir shopping. i bought one of those woven maori headbands for myself. of course, when i wear it in america people will probably think it is native american.

huka falls

then we were off to see the huka falls and ride the huka jet. i have seen a short video clip of huka falls. gorgeous. spectacular. other than that, i really don't know much about them nor have i seen any other photos of them. i know i have to see it but i want to be surprised. they are not high but they are gorgeous. 'huka' roughly is maori for 'foam' so they are the foaming falls. very appropriate.

after viewing the falls, we drove a little further on to ride the jet boat. we just made it in time. we got on the very last ride of the day at 4pm. i was afraid we wouldn't make it since we had spent so much time down at whakapapa. there were only 2 other people on the ride with us which seemed great because it would be crowded. wrong. on a jet boat that does 360 degree spins, you want a full boat to cushion the blows! we didn't have a full row so we would slam into each other during each turn. i was able to position my feet, back, and hands to hold myself tight in position so i didn't slide around after the first spin but for some reason i was unable to hold it whenever we spun counter-clockwise and would crash into twiddle thumbs. this jet boat ride wasn't as fun because there was not the fear of crashing and death. the shotover jet was really thrilling because of the narrow river and closeness of the rocks and the constant fear of something going wrong and crashing. in contrast, this river was much wider and had grassy sides. there were a few bits of trees in the river but if there is no fear of death upon impact if you hit them.

close your eyes if you're a dork

the jet boat ride was cool because it took us to the falls and to aratiatia dam. i wanted to see when the floodgates are lifted for the dam and watch the water rise as this was used in lord of the rings when arwen summons the river to rise and get rid of the black riders. we didn't get to watch the release of the floodgates because the last one is at 2pm in the winter and we were still in the tongariro national park area at the time. but i did get to see the dam so i was pleased enough with that.

next to the huka jet is a prawn farm and the wairakei geothermal power station. the prawn farm uses geothermally heated water to keep the water warm for breeding temperatures. obviously this wasn't something i was interested in but when we were driving away after the jet boat ride, they turned on the warm water for the farm and the steam began to rise. it looked very cool. the wairakei power station is like the second biggest geothermal power plant in the world. kiwis love to say theirs is second biggest in the world and stuff but they can rarely name the biggest, they just know theirs is one of the biggest in the world, the southern hemisphere, or new zealand. and frankly, i'm really sick of it.

prawn farm

wairakei geothermal power station

drive and drive. we finally reached rotorua. it has been a long day. we checked into the kiwi paka yha, same deal as waitomo. only this time we got a chalet and they are really nice. this just might be the nicest hostel we have stayed at in new zealand. there are 2 beds downstairs and 2 beds upstairs. that's right, there is an upstairs section. the chalets are en suite. the only thing it's missing is a kitchenette. the complex has a free mineral pool to use but i just feel dirty looking at it.

the upstairs of the chalet

we did a quick grocery run then made dinner. we tried the beers we bought to take home with our dinner. we can only take back 1L of alcohol each, which is only half of what we bought. i know i was drinking something that i normally never like, but this beer sampling has really put me off of alcohol. i can't stand the stuff. it's only fun when you're underage because you're not supposed to have it. i think once you're of legal age to drink, it simply has no appeal. at least for me. i think i might be through with consuming alcohol. it's just not halal if you get my drift.