Up at 7 am with major back pain – So I went upstairs to an amazing sunrise and some email/skyping with some folks back in Canada. Krista and the boys made an appearance after 830 and we packed up everything into our fancy little rental car. After some goodbyes to Ronnie/Roger, Krista took the wheel and we zoomed off north toward Rotarua. The Darren/Krista navigation system was a little suspect as usual as we missed one turnoff and had to do a 2 minute backtrack. Once we got headed on the right highway, we were in absolute awe driving down the coastline with amazing views of the ocean with rocky hillsides covered in hundreds of tree varieties of varied deep green color. Every turn was a beautiful scene as we looked over fields of wheat and grapes winding away from the ocean.
We eventually pulled over at a little coffee shop so Krista could order a latte. We ate some delicious home-made sandwiches and some fruit and stretched our legs for a few minutes. The clouds had finally made their way south and we had a beautiful sunny day to drive. We continued north and stopped in a little town that had an old airplane elevated 50 feet above the ground with a little café. The boys took a quick tour and we continued northward to the city of Taupo. We drove past several immense volcanoes in the valley leading up to the lake. Lake Taupo – the biggest lake in all of New Zealand was a brilliant blue as we wound the way down into the city. We stopped to stretch our legs at a viewpoint and let the boys run around on the huge rocks there.
We needed a snack, so we drove downtown and grabbed a quick bite to eat at KFC. We did a quick email check at McDonald’s as they have free wireless internet. We got some directions to our next few stops and headed to the beach for a quick swim. The lake was much warmer than the ocean and the boys had a blast running in and out of the water. After a bit, we packed up for our last 45 minute drive to Rotarua to find our hotel. We drove past the thermal heating vents that we are going to tour tomorrow morning. We got into Rotarua and the weather started to change dramatically. The deep dark clouds were looming from the north. We stopped in at the info booth to gather some info on other activities we could accomplish while in the area as we are staying til Monday morning. We found a Pizza joint and ordered a pizza but had 15 minutes to kill in the meantime. There was a shooting gallery with real pellets next door and as you can imagine, the boys were dying to try it. The man gave us 2 clips full of ammo – one for each boy and the shooting began. The boys popped balloons, knocked over objects and tried to split a pop can in half in order to win a free pop. They had a great time and we headed back to pick up our pizza. We ate on the street and watched all the birds desperately seek our crumbs. We headed back to the car and drove over to our hotel a few blocks over.
The Novatel hotel is 5 stories high with a great view over the lake and park outside. We did some negotiating and got a room with a great view, but no free upgrades to a suite today…. We checked in and headed upstairs to get changed to go swimming as the boys were desperate to hit the pool before bed. We got our complimentary robes on and headed down. We were the only ones in the pool for half an hour and the boys absolutely loved jumping and diving and splashing around. Eventually they had to chill out as other guests arrived. Finally we left around 9 pm and had them in bed for 930 but they stayed awake forever. The down side of all being in the same room for the first time this holiday. It will be a late night tonight and an early day tomorrow.
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