Woke later again this morning in Rotorua, a shameful lie in till 7:30.

We set off at about 9 am and headed for the Skyline Sky rides Park and got there at about 9:10 the car park was virtually empty which is the way we like it. The park consists of a gondola lift up to a restaurant/café/activity base at the top of a 500 mtr high hill.

The ride up to the facilities is impressive with views over the town of Rotorua, and views of the lake and thermal springs steaming in the distance. The ride seems pretty new and my usual fears of broken cables etc were proved groundless. We rode the luge to the bottom of the hill which was loads of fun and took the ski lift back to the top of the hill and then the gondola back down to the car park, all good value.

Then on to Wai-o-Tapu to take a look at the mud pools and thermal springs etc, some very impressive sites there and a photography paradise, naturally we did the longest possible walk there about 75 mins and it was worth the effort.

Then headed for Taupo about 1:45 min's drive Taupo is a very pretty town (aren't they all in NZ) with views across a huge lake to snow capped mountains in the distance.

In the afternoon we checked into the Lake Taupo top 10 holiday park then drove the van back into to the town. We walked through the town searching in vein for a wireless hotspot or even an internet service that will let you connect your laptop, but found nothing. Surely a business opportunity missed, as I bumped into several people wondering around looking for the same thing. Then we headed back to the camp for a steak dinner and an evening watching the sun set.