David & Pat on the beach 5k's from their home
Saturday morning after a leisurely breakfast surrounded by David’s magnificent gardens we headed off to Taupo which is about 2 hours south of Te Puke. On the way we stopped to see the bubbling mud. Amazing how the crust of the earth in NZ seems to have areas where the heat escapes. The mud was literally spewing into the air as it bubbled. You would not want to be sprayed by it. In Taupo we met Liz and Laurie, good friends of Pat and David. Taupo is a beautiful town built on a lake that provides lots of water activities for the community as well as an amazing view of mountains which host a ski hill in the winter. After lunch we continued to tour taking in the Haka waterfalls – a stunning aqua blue color. Then it was on to a prawn farm and eventually fish and chips on the beach. A wonderful warm couple, also great hosts. The next day after a quick shopping trip for the ladies we headed back to Rororua where Pat’s daughter and her family hosted us for lunch. They also live on a lake and have a wonderful view. The names in NZ all seem to have a Maori background and many I don’t even attempt to pronounce.
Please post and let us know you're alright. Don't think you were going anywhere near ChristChurch, but not sure???
ReplyDeleteDid you feel the earthquake??? We were watching from afar, the t.v. in the hotel bar and all it said was "devastating earthquake in N. Zealand, so we were momentarily panicked. Stay well dear friends.
ReplyDeletexo, M.E. and P.