New Zealand: Taupo, Mt Ruapehu, Wellington. aka crossing lakes, rivers and volcanoes to get a scone.

Taupo was such a lovely place, and we were very sad to be leaving here.  It is definitely on the visit again list.

On the drive around Lake Taupo to Tongariro, I had a go fishing in a few of the rivers.  I never caught anything, but with scenery this gorgeous it didn't matter in the slightest.

I had a good go at fishing the Tongariro River as well.  From Tongariro we started our drive to Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu, both foreboding and imposing craggy volcanic peaks which featured in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings as Mt Doom.

We drove up Mt Ruapehu and I left Michelle in the warmth and comfort of the cafe after lunch, and ascended the rocky, steep slopes to the crater summit.  I could imagine the lava spewing forth and flowing down these lifeless rocky slopes.  It was a tough climb; not only steep, but slippery and at times like climbing in sand.

The views from the top across the island were simply breathtaking, with Mt Ngauruhoe in the distance.  Without doubt worth the climb up and back.

After leaving Mt Ruapehu it was on to Wellington in time to catch up with Phillippa and our overnight stay before the ferry to leave the North Island.

We stopped off at a small roadside town, the name lost in the cobwebs of my mind to visit a little country woman's style craft market, and I was constantly on the lookout for another scone after those delicious scones at the Lava Glass Cafe.

Searching desparately for that scone, we stopped off at a pub on the side of the road.  However this pub looked quite dodgy, maybe a biker hangout and there was nobody around the kitchen, nor a scone in sight so I made a hasty exist.

I eventually found a bakery shop on the side of the road that had one scone left.  And it was good. Maybe even better than the Taupo scones.  I could now continue on; a happy scone sated soul.

A good portion of the trip had the Rangitikei River on our left,  This was a very scenic river with deep gorges of white cliffs cutting through the green pastures.

Our arrival into Wellington ended up being too late to catch up with Phillippa, so we had dinner in an Asian cafe then retired in preparation for our early ferry ride the following morning.

Check out more photos from day 7 here.