A short drive up the coast passing orchards and vineyards until we struck west and up into the hills to cross back over the snow capped mountains. The land was all bush and tree plantations with empty log carrying lorries following us and a similar number coming down laden with massive logs. We stopped to view an impressive waterfall but this was nothing compared to The Huka falls just outside Taupo,a seaside town on the shores of its eponymous lake where we stopped for coffee and a sandwich. The water was a whirling torrent of blue and white foam as it hurtled down a narrow channel. Just up the road from there was The craters of the moon, a remarkable landscape of thermal mud pools,ponds and crevasses with steam spewing out. A small sulphurous smell lingers and you have to stay on the boardwalk as the ground is hot and may just give way under your feet. We were hoping to get to see Orakei Korako,said to be one of the finest thermal areas in New Zealand. We arrived probably too late in the day to fully appreciate it so we were allowed to park up and camp,our first time off grid. It's a bit weird looking at the car park and just seeing steam seeping out of the ground next to the van.