Taupo

19/02/12-20/02/12

With the sun shining I did a good day’s hike first up to the Huka Falls, an area where the local river is squeezed through a canyon until the water pours into a pool at the end. If you want to grab a better photo of the falls you can go on a boat cruise which will take you directly to the pool at the end, as the boats engines struggles against the massive flow of water. After I continued along the path by the side of the river up to the Aratiatia Dam where four times a day the control are opened, flooding the river downstream. The rocks that are clearly visible at the bottom of the dam are soon submersed under water as the quantity of flow is dramatically increased.

The next day I choose to walk along the side of the lake up to a point called 5 Mile Bay. Just as I made the decision to turn around I noticed that on the brambles by the side of the track that there were ripe blackberries to be picked, so grabbing my plastic container out of my bag I precede to pick berries – the first time I had ever had the opportunity to do it in February! I spent the afternoon in the library doing researching into Fiji, planning my island get away.