Today we were going to go to New Plymouth but after a few hours driving we decided to go straight to Taupo instead. On our way to Taupo we passed through Tongariro National Park and got to see the three towering active volcanoes, Mt Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe, the latter being Mount Doom in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies. I discovered that even though Mt Ngauruhoe is much younger than the other two volcanoes, it was chosen to be Mount Doom because out of the three volcanoes it is the only one that looks like a typical volcano, with its single vent and perfectly symmetrical slopes, whereas in contrast the other two have multiple vents.

On we travelled until we reached Taupo, which is home to New Zealand’s largest lake, Lake Taupo. We rang around a good few places before we managed to get somewhere to stay for the next two nights. Our accommodation ended up being a bit expensive because we decided to treat ourselves to a gorgeous two bedroom unit in Chelmswood Motel which had a mineral pool off the master bedroom. Especially since it was Aoife’s last week it was nice to stay somewhere lovely. We drove into town to get supplies for dinner and I cooked a Shepherd’s Pie which usually does us for two nights. Fiachra then went back into town to see about doing a skydive and I was a bit upset because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do one, on account of my ears. He came back with the different leaflets but couldn’t decide on whether to do it or not. He then went for a swim in the thermally heated outdoor pool and when he came back he started to fill the natural mineral pool in our unit. It takes over a half an hour to fill and once it was done we all got in with a lovely glass of wine. After a while Fiachra got out as it was so hot but Aoife and I stayed in for ages having a good old girlie chat before we got out and relaxed in the comfy bathrobes…..ah a bit of luxury at last!!!

Lots of love

Fi & Fi, xox