Our last view of the mountains before we headed back to green pastures, cows and sheep. I highly recommend this drive to anyone touring in the north island. If you take the road we took on the way up (the Desert Road or Hwy 1) then take SH-49, where you have amazing views of the mountains, down SH-47 past the historic area, and all the way down. Really nice drive.

We headed back home on SH 47, stopping at Te Porere Historic Place, which was the site of one of the last battles of the New Zealand wars. There are 2 areas, which are basically trenches carved into a hill. FYI, the 2nd site is about a 20 minute uphill walk (not easy on these sick lungs...)

Camper vans....we saw a lot of these around Lake Taupo. Looks like fun!

We stopped at the Lava Glass Studio where artists make very intricate and beautifully designed glass vases, glasses, and other pieces. Wanganui (where we live) is actually a place well known for its glass artists, and currently is celebrating the Wanganui Glass Festival...so we didn't buy any pieces at this studio but it was really interesting to see the process.

This person looks familiar. Seriously. We had to do a double take. And it was only because she had a Kiwi accent that we were sure it wasn't her (plus the fact that I talked to her on the phone days before).

We visited the Aratitia Rapids which is now dammed off for much of the time, but at certain times of day they open the dam you watch as the water fills up and courses over the rocks. It was actually pretty cool to see power in action.

Beautiful sunset over the lake.

More of Lake Taupo. We caught it just as dusk was approaching, and were able to catch beautiful colors in the sky.

We made it to Lake Taupo! This is a large lake (think Lake Tahoe) which lies in a volcanic crater. Taupo is the town situated at the top of the lake. This is where tons of sports enthusiasts (fishing, skydiving, bungy jumping, jet boating) start their adventures. We did not partake this time, but we plan to return...

Mt. Ruapehu

The landscape suddenly changed dramatically as we entered the "Desert Rd". This is essentially volcanic gravel fields devoid of greenery. You can see Mt. Ruapehu on the left, and behind it, Mt. Ngauruhoe

Our first sighting of Mt. Ruapehu, the largest mountain in New Zealand and favorite for skiers. The top is covered by clouds....

The lush green pastures were everywhere we looked.

Lake Taupo and Mt Doom

After several attempts to leave Friday night, and forgetting multiple things, turning around, coming back home, we finally took that hint that we should just stay at home for the night. I actually was feeling quite under the weather so it worked out. We made a fire in our wood stove, cozied up on our couch and watched moonstruck (one of the few movies we brought with us).

We took off Saturday morning on what turned out to be a spectacular day. We drove up the Whanganui river...up and down...up and down...around...again finding ourselves surrounded by sheep and huge green mountains as far as we could see. We had a malfunction of our 16GB memory card, bought specifically for this trip...but no worries because we were able to use one from our video camera. Yeah for technology.

The pictures will speak for themselves...

Being sick sucks.

Why...when I am in New Zealand...do i have to get sick right away? I've been sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and overall just having a complete lack of energy due to this damn cold. I'm ready to be back to my healthy self so I can start exploring more.

That being said, we are heading away for the weekend, to the area around Lake Taupo. In order to get there, we drive up the Whanganui River, around several large volcanos, and then we arrive (hopefully while it's still light). More to come later....

Home sweet home. Sachin is being a good house husband and hanging the clothes to dry in the wind (which we have plenty of, as I mentioned before)

Thanks to our guidebook, we came upon this hidden gem, the Cape Egmont Lighthouse, which is off a very small road from the highway. The lighthouse and the mountain face the sea.

We drove down Surf Hwy 45, only to be blessed with amazing views of of the mountain on a spectacularly clear day. The rolling green hills, spotted with sheep and cows made us think we were in the Shire.

We stopped in a town slightly south of New Plymouth called Oakura. We pulled into a parking lot, took off our long underwear, hiking socks and boots and plunged our feet into the black sand beach. The water was definitely cold, but we couldn't believe how beautiful and accessible this beach was. There is absolutely no commercialization, nothing marring the coastline, just people riding their horses, taking leisurely walks, and generally just being laid back.

Our first official tramp (i.e. hike) in Mt. Egmont National Park. It was a short one because it was raining and I was starting to get some kind of cold. We were literally the only ones on the trail.

We stayed in a cozy little lodge called Dawson Falls Lodge. This is the view from our room window. The owner were a young couple who recently bought the hotel and decided to transform it's image into "Dawson Falls Romantic Hotel". We were the only guests except for 3 other couples. The lodge itself was built in the late 1800s and has a Swiss alpine decor going on. A bit confusing really, given that we are in New Zealand, and the owners are German and Ukrainian...New Zealand has it's fair share of immigrants.

Our first view of Mt. Taranki. We couldn't believe how green everything was. It is the beginning of spring here, so the area has been flood with rain all winter.