Another windy start to the day and that was just in the car after the curry. Lovely drive north from Napier up to Taupo. It was great seeing all the lovely old cars coming down the road to Napier for the Art Deco weekend. Not sure how the open top ones fared in the deluge we drove through just outside Taupo. First coffee stop in Taupo and Graham did point out it was the most expensive so far, however it was good. 
We then stopped at the Huka Falls which although only 10 meters high were spectacular with the River Waikato racing through a narrow chasm before the Falls . Beautifully clear blue water and a popular spot for jet boating. Then a quick race up the road to the Aratiatia dam to watch them open the floodgates at 2pm for 15 minutes. Quite impressive to see the volume of water cascade through and then just as quickly disappear once closed. 
Picnic lunch in the car out of the drizzle, felt just like being on holiday in England. Another coffee stop in Cambridge, nice town but no resemblance to the English city at all, to refresh us before the rush hour into Auckland. Traffic heading north luckily not too bad. 
David had the beers and wine nicely chilled for our arrival and Sharon cooked a delicious Japanese curry. Mustn't overplay how wonderful they are otherwise they will be inundated with visitors.