We could tell as soon as we got close to Taupo that we were near the mountains in the North Island as the weather changed so suddenly. From driving in hot sunshine, we were suddenly hit by a huge rain storm making our arrival at the beautiful lakeside resort of Taupo a bit of a wet start. However by our seventh morning it was again beautiful sunshine, which meant we were able to hike up to the famous Huka Falls. Our walk took us along the Waikato River, where we stopped at a hot spring stream which flowed into the river making it a wonderful swimming spot where the hot spring met the freezing cold river water. We set up camp on the edge of Lake Taupo, admiring the floater plane and a variety of sailing boats.