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This is the view near the Taupo Bungy, which is on a cliff over the river that drains Lake Taupo. The bungy jump is quite high. These pictures give you a taste of the beautiful area as seen through my polarised sunglass lenses. Fenny and I take some pictures from the top of the Taupo Bungy. Notice first that it's beautiful and second that it's fucking way high up in the air. We didn't actually bungy jump this day. Remember, we did a cost analysis and decided skydiving made more sense. This is what Fenny would've looked like had she done a jump. Fenny was very excited to take this picture and, upon seeing it, squeeled with glee. I think she got far more enjoyment out of the thing than I did. The day was starting to become hot at this point. Here are two pictures of Fenny standing on the Taupo Bungy platform looking at me. The platform is way up in the air. We both wandered around this site for about half an hour before we moved on. We watched Indian girls sign up for the jump (but didn't actually see them jump), we walked out on the platform many times, and we took some pictures in the area. But... We didn't jump. More pictures of the area. In one of the earlier pictures, you can see the platform's shadow on the water. Our goal this morning was to make it down to the Huka falls, which was about a 5 or 6 kilometre hike (tramp?) from our backpackers. We didn't know this at the time we started out, which was probably a good thing. The hike was quite long and tedious. This was us at the beginning of the hike, when we had a lot of energy. We stood beside the river and posed and made noises and everything. Bumble bee. Very agitated. When I found it, it was on its back trying very hard to right itself. It would flail its legs about wildly and buzz its wings, but no joy. Just stuck there on its back. A little prompting by me, and it became righted. Apparently it was having some difficulty in life anyway, because it didn't fly away or sting me or anything. After I got these pictures, I just walked away. I don't know what became of this bee. Here you see a plethora of photographs of the Huka falls. There is a lot of water going through a very small space that was formed when a lot of very hard rock was pushed close together, and all the soft rock was worn away by the water. What was left was a narrow gorge with very solid (hard) rock on either side, so the water doesn't wear it away easily. Apparently several rivers feed into Lake Taupo, but only one drains the huge lake, and it all needs to come through this spot at some point. Therefore, it's big, and it's rushing. And LOTS of water goes through every second. The Huka Falls are big, loud, and impressive. Unfortunately, it isn't this big, loud, and impressive all days. We actually came back the next day and the falls were quite low and a bit more tame. Fenny and I on the way back to our backpackers after the Huka Falls Experience(tm). This is some of the scenery on the path between the Berkenhoff Backpackers and the Huka Falls. We were feeling more like taking pictures on the way back than we were on the way over. Perhaps it was because it was later in the day, and the light was better...? Fenny and I attempt a little group photo. More scenery. Here I was experimenting with my polarised sunglass lenses. I like to see the reflections on the water just disappear as I twist the lenses sideways. It's glorious. Here is a wonderful, huge field that was right near the Berkenhoff lodge. It was at the start of the Huka Falls foot path. As you might notice, there was little shade there. It was very hot, and after spending some time in the wonderful large field in the relentless sunlight, we were really hot and thirsty. Finally, we've made it back to town, and Fenny poses for me in front of some traditional Maori artwork, dating back to the late 1900's. Some pictures of Lake Taupo with the mountains on the other side. We actually got some better pictures later. For me, pictures of Fenny never grow old! |
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