Our alarm went off at 8am and once again we struggled to open our sleepy eyes, which we assumed was still down to jet lag. We had a nice hot shower to warm up and then made a poached egg and English muffin for breakfast before the long road trip. We set off at around 9:15am on SH1 which hugged the west coastline for a while before swinging in land. We joked about how it was pretty much impossible to get lost even on a long journey as the route only really involved one main road. We stopped at a town called 'Taihape' to buy some bread to go with our soup and to use a toilet. The town gimmick was the gumboot, or wellington to English folk. We parked up outside a public toilet block and caught site of a gumboot throwing lane! We were pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of the toilet as it even had paper and soap! We began driving again and soon came to realise that having a town gimmick is quite common in New Zealand as another town we passed had huge statues of trout and another town, literally called 'Bulls', had the word 'Bulls' written everywhere along with the obligatory statue. We stopped at a picnic area to make some soup and have a hot drink and a rest before continuing on to Taupo. Andrew had a little difficulty with the gas cooker as it was the first time we had used it and the ring was a bit rusty so no gas was being let out. He managed to get it working but it was painfully slow in warming the soup.
 
We eventually set off once again and it came to decision time as to whether we should take the Desert Road, which was reportedly icy, or take a longer rout to Taupo . I left the decision with the driver who chose to continue on to Desert Road in the hope that it hadn't started snowing! As it was a bright sunny day the ice had clearly all melted and we were glad to have taken the route as the scenery was absolutely stunning, as 'Tongariro National Park' stood proudly by the side of the road. We stopped to take a photograph of the volcanic area before continuing along the road to Taupo. We knew we were getting closer as the road began to follow the the edge of huge Lake Taupo which was so still and beautifully clear. We easily found the YHA hostel as Taupo was a fairly small town and once we had paid for a night we drove to meet Alex and Shane. It was so nice to see a friendly face and we decided to have a walk beside the lake to catch up. The sun was starting to set behind 'Tongariro National Park' which made the sky have a beautiful orange tint. There was a floating barge out in the lake that allowed for a game of hole in one. We all shared a round of golf balls but I had no idea how to play so Alex had to give me a mini lesson on how to hold and use a golf club . I ended up hitting the ball on my second attempt but it only just reached the edge of the lake! Shane was pretty good at hitting the ball but nobody managed to get it any where near the floating barge.
 
We were all in need of a drink so we went to Mulligan's Bar. Alex wanted a quick change so we headed back to the hostel before returning to Mulligan's for something to eat. They offered a backpacker special deal so nearly everyone ordered fish and chips along with a drink for $10. We spent the rest of the night drinking and ended up in Element Bar. It was fairly late and we had things planned for the following day so we called it a night. We said bye to Alex and Shane before walking back to our campervan in the fog. We had an un-powered site although it wasn't as much a site as a car parking space! I was just about to doze off when Andrew decided to put his head out of the window and throw up!