NZ - Whakapapa Village

We landed in Auckland on a Monday afternoon, picked up our SUV and spent most of Tuesday buying tent and accessories for our first camping trip in New Zealand. After a quick visit to the Sky Tower in Auckland (no pix - didn't come out), we headed south to Whakapapa Village - a cool little place guarded by Mount Ruapehu.

We had intended to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on our first day there but the weather was not good so we instead walked to the Silica Rapids in the morning and to the Taranaki Falls in the afternoon.

The weather improved a little the next day, so we drove to Lake Taupo for some supplies, then walked around lovely Lake Rotopounamu. Sarah even went in for a swim - which the ducks were pretty excited about.