On the way in we stop in a small village call Bulls where for some odd reason all shops and official buildings are named bull something or something bull, like below... the police station is called:
The bank
parking, information, toilet, ...
and pretty much every business in town
Some more signs...
If you recall, Taupo is near the Tongariro National Park so on our way to Taupo we drove by the Tongariro National Park and the driver was kind enough to stop and let us take a couple of nice snaps of both, Mount Ruapehu
and Mount Ngauruhoe (better known as Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings).
Before the driver stopped I had managed to take a few good bus-shots (my skill on taking pictures on the move from the bus has improved considerably in the last week), but even so they couldn't compare to getting off the bus, and take the picture. :-)
I think the clouds improve the picture as well... it kinda looks a bit more mystical like that...
Anyway, eventually we made it to Taupo. Last time I was in Taupo I did the Tongariro crossing so I hadn't had time to do anything else, but after leaving Taupo chatting to some of my fellow passengers I discovered that there is a free spa in Taupo (and by free I mean free like no money exchanging hands), so now that I was back I thought it would be a good idea to explore this place so I asked the driver for directions to the place.
The place is a good half an hour walk from Taupo and right at the beginning of the park where the free spa was there was a bungee jumping bridge... so as I had plenty of time in my hands I decided to stop and have a look.
I even took a video of someone jumping...but I can't find it now! I'm sure it will turn up when I'm back home sorting the pictures...
Eventually I made it to the park and I must say, it was a very nice park. I good place to just relax.
Despite of the good weather there weren't many people around.
The spa turned out to be a little stream of hot water (you probably can't see the smoke on the pictures although it was clear with the naked eye).
This stream ends in the big river you saw in the pictures above, so the "free spa" is you taking a dip in the river right where this hot stream meets the river. The big river is freezing cold but if you get the right spot where the river water mixes up with the hot water from the stream it's actually nice and warm... but you have to be careful, too close to to the stream and you'll burn your skin...
It was a really nice place to spend an afternoon
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