Road Trip Part 2

I am back. The sun is shining after a grey start, and I have been walking. I walked up to the ridge above the Miramar peninsula, and then down to Worser Bay, and back up and over, under landing planes, along another bay, to Hataitai. The wind blew, so I arrived looking like something from another planet. I have had the daily exercise, so I was very happy to go and have paninis for lunch with Diana and Sarah. Carbo-loading, you know. For the next walk.

Anyway..... here are the next photos. We are starting with the Huka jet, which goes racing up to the Huka Falls and screeches about doing the equivalent of "wheelies" and spins. There in the front row, you can see my boys. They did the brotherly bonding thing, while the women watched. Or, as Diana, said, kept an eye on them in case they landed in the river. And took photos, of course. They loved every minute of it. And here is another view of Lake Rotorua. And the black swans. David managed to get them to come up right to him, so he took loads of photos. We went up the Skyline luge thingy, and my family can racing down the tracks in their sled type things. There are 3 tracks, and Diana is the pro here. She and her older brother were intensely competetive, might I add.
But she did have the edge of knowing the track! The others were a little more cautious. Great fun was had by all, though. They also have a sort of slingshot thing where you are pulled up in the air, and then have to pull a release cable and go flying into what seems like space. Diana has been on this with Kate, I gather. Hmmm. I think it is rather like bungy jumping. If any of my kids do it, I only want to hear AFTER the event, thank you very much.
Look! Bubbling mud! I wish I could put the smell on here too! Real bubbling mud! I was very excited. This was in Rotorua.
And then there was more fun in the kayaks, and on the lake. With 4 of the 5 of us aged between 18 and 30, it was inevitable that there would be many activities! The one of us, aged considerably more than 30, did do some of the activities, but observed a lot too.
So that was the central part of NZ. Next time I will show you the Coromandel, which was stunning to. I do believe my daughter will be arriving back in the office any minute, so I will stop for now and carry on tomorrow. It is beautiful here. Just so beautiful.