On to Taupo

We had a bit of a boring bus drive for the first half of the day, but luckily got to watch a film. We then got great views of the 3 volcanoes (including the one used for Mount Doom in LotR) in Tongariro National Park where we will be doing the crossing tomorrow. It has been a scorching hot day, and we have been swimming in the lake here, which is the biggest lake in New Zealand (it is like a sea!). It was strange sun bathing with a snow-covered peak of a volcano as a backdrop! We are going to walk to the Huka Falls this evening (waterfall with largest volume of water in NZ), and then have a dip in one of the hot pools on the way back.