Taupo - Powerboats and Golf

After a screw-up with the accomodation which actually landed us with better accomodation than normal I headed down to the lake to watch the powerboat races. Very noisy and very quick were the essential elements which they seemed to combine...and a keen driving ability. There was however one instant where the either the driver made an error or the waves on the lake upset the boat as it cornered, sending in arse-over-end and landing it upside-down in the water. Pretty crazy at that speed! The helicopters were quick on the scene pulling both driver and co-driver out of there.

That evening, following another huge serving of chilli con carne, it was time to check out the local nightlife. Mullighans (or a pub with a similar Irish name) had one hell of a loud band playing, making getting to know the new Stray people a bit difficult. As it turned out though they went home to bed whilst I stayed out partying with the Kiwi bus (what a traitor!). As the next morning was so overcast I couldn´t be bothered to get up to do the hike and so the Stray people all went on to try to do it and failed too due to the adverse weather.

Instead of walking I finally took a day of relaxing - playing crazy golf, and joining in the cheering as Ross continued to burn his cash on pitching golf balls at a floating green in the lake! Also playing on the floating platform in the lake turned out to be a good way of passing time, even if the water was far too cold!

Dinner that night had to be about the most healthy for the past two weeks - guacamole (made to my Mexican recipe courtesy of TrekAm´s Sean), bread, sauces and heaps of salad. Surprisingly filling after a day of finally relaxing and playing plenty of hands of s**thead and taking the mickey out of Valerie for clearly not having washed for the last two days since her skydive!