Tuesday, November 26- Lake Taupo Day 1

Dude. Lake Taupo is awesome. It's amazing how much you can fit into a short window of time.  

My first adventure was to Huka falls. It is on the Waiketo river, the longest river in New Zealand-425 kilometers to be precise, and at the falls processes enough water to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in one second. It's kind if a big deal. Anyway, I took the Huka Falls jet to the lion's mouth and had a great time. I will say this though. If you have recently gotten into a major car accident and are prone to post traumatic stress, wait awhile before you do this. There is a lot if spinning, driving straight at solid objects and last minute swerving. It will either cure what ails you, or send turn you into a shrieking mess. 

Next up was a visit to Spa Thermal Park. It sits above Huka falls and drains hot mineral water straight into the river. People come and soak in these scalding waters year round. It was an excellent place to unwind my tense neck muscles.

I just couldn't get over how clear the river was, and it was this green every where! I kept wanting to jump in every time I rounded a bend. 

And I rounded a few on the hike I took to the middle of nowhere and back. On my way into the park I had glanced quickly at the map of the area and decided when I was done to go a different way back to the start. Well later, in true "Wait. This doesn't feel right" fashion I found myself on a deserted rotary mountain bike trail headed away from town. But did I turn around? Hell no! I kept going, following my inner compass and pathfindering skills until I found myself in familiar territory again. Boo ya bitches. Adventure is out there. 

And look! I found some nice trees! I figured if worst came to worst I could hug them until someone found me. Thankfully it didn't come to that. 

There was a storm threatening tonight so I got a rockin' sunset. Exhibit A:

Day 1? Big fan.