New Zealand #5 - Lake Taupo & Wellington

After Rotorua, we continued further south to Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in New Zealand that was formed after a super volcanic eruption over 26,000 years ago.  We stayed at an awesome house with views of the lakes and the surrounding volcanoes.  During our time in Taupo we visited Hakka Falls, Craters of the Moon and took a fun Jet Boat ride.  The best part of our time in Taupo was hanging with our friends and letting the girls play together.

The view from our house

Adi slept in the closet under the stairs, just like Harry Potter

Adalyn and Ellie played so well together

Us, the Foxes and Liz, who joined us from Wellington

The steaming and bubbling holes at Craters of the Moon

Adi and Ellie chillin on the playground

Hakka Falls

After we bid farewell to Nikki, Leon, Liz and Ellie, we drove to the bottom of the North Island to Wellington.  We had a very eventful ride that took us up a narrow one lane road through the mountains where I was certain we were going to die.  Thankfully, we only "encountered" eight other cars on this road but I needed a drink by the time we arrived at the Kempster's home.  Our friends Pete and Maria hosted us in their home, played tour guide and kept our bellies full.  Pete kept us busy showing us Wellington and lots of  his favorite locations.  We visited Mt. Victoria, Wetta Caves, Te Papa National Museum and had the best tour guide who told us all about the history of Wellington.  We had such a lovely time catching up with our friends.  After three short days in Wellington, we caught a flight back North to Auckland!

This gorgeous view was courtesy of NZ Deadliest Road...

Eric being proud of his driving skills...

Please note the width of this TWO lane road

Anyway, back to our Wellington pictures....

The top of Mt. Victoria and great views of Wellington

Uncle Pete and Adi

Eric versus the Orcs at Wetta Caves

Our trip to New Zealand was so fantastic, that we hope to return next year!  I can't wait to see what this magical country with it's amazing people will have in store for us next time.  Until then, I have lots of pictures and memories to keep me going!