Reparoa with Rachel and friends

Saturday 24 Jan we plan to be tourists today and it is very hot. We get an early start and first stop is to see a geothermal valley as if it wasn't warm enough. It's a walk of approx 30 min a pictuesque valley, native bush, a warm stream and lots of holes in the ground with steam coming out, but the novelty is wearing off a bit now as one geothermal is a bit like another! next mustdo thing is a ride on the river, the navigator would like a nice gentle cruise up the river,however we went shooting up and down rapids in a jet boat! 8 people on the boat,a real white knuckle ride for about 35min,fantastic adrenalin rush, and our driver could turn the boat around on a sixpence theough 180 degrees at 50 miles an hour and you tend to get a bit wet! He scared us a bit by Just missing a jetty, and going through overhanging trees. He was able to hold the boat stationary on a big rapid on full throttle. A great experience and we have a DVD to remind us. Not sure I have the knowledge (computer skills) to share them with you. What next ----bungy jumping??
Driving on to Taupo we stop at Prawn Park where they farm,rear and sell prawns. Westop for luch and no prizes for guessing what we had. 1 Kilo of prawns (in garlic butter) which is very messy and takes forever to peel and eat. Peter did still feel like lunch after! Next stop the world famous Huka Falls. Ther are apparently 16 rivers in and only 1 out of Lake Taupo which is the River Waikito and it as this river as sets off thro a gorge that make these spectacular falls 160cubic metres of water per second. They are not high cascades but just the sheer volume is impressive. Also the water is absolutely crystal clear because Lake Taupo (a volcanoe) is exceedingly deep and all the sediment drops down to the bottom, a long way.Having taken lots of photos we drive to a lookout point above taupo and it's lake.By this timeit is so hot we are in desperate ned of a beer and so head up the road to Reparoa, where our freind Rachel Watts lives.
We half thought that we would find Rachel at her local The Woolshed, but we find her at home. It doesn't take much persuasion for her and her landlord Chick to accompany us to The Woolshed their equivalent of The White Hart. We meet some interesting people tho we have some dificulty at times understanding them, a combination of accent, booze and noise. A country pub,country people and similar conversations and topics that we are used too. Peter met the female equivalent of Ray Burrows, who hunts wild boar with dogs etc. A very late night, with lots of drink and Chick and rachel let us have the spare room, which is a good job as if we had tried to put the bed together in the van it would have been a bit like the Generation game!