New Zealand

Taupo is a town probably most famous for its lake - Lake Taupo. It is a region of fresh lakes and rivers. Apparently, Lake Taupo is the largest freshwater lake in Australasia... go figure. It was created thousands of years ago by a big erruption from a nearby volcano. But anyway, the day we arrived was wet and cold. The evening was spent dining and being entertained in a traditional Mauri setting.

Well, we arrived somewhere downtown, and it was overcast and cold.	This is a shot of the downtown district, a few places to eat, shop and a few places for backpackers.	The gateway to the lake.	It was so boring because I think it was too early in the morning, so I just took some pictures to test out the colour of my camera again.
Tried some macro shots.	The statue and pond.	More macro shots.	As you can probably tell, we were taking a stroll in the park.
More colours.	Orange ones.	Yellow roses.	Group under the arch.
Small purple flowers.	Dont' know.	Red roses.	Group posing in front of the lake.
After that, we got going and travelled to this lake. I remember it. Daniel and I were the first ones here. To my Daniel's right was a small waterfall which was feeding this river somewhat.	The interesting thing was that all along our walk, you could see steam from that river. This is because this place is geothermal. When i put my hand in the river, not only was it crystal clear, it was warm. This would have been a great place to swim.	Soon, the rest of the gang arrives through a fence.	The group posing in front of the river.
This is the river leading up to the famous Huka Falls.	Steph on top of the bridge.	Me.	They say the river is so blue because of the amount of oxygen in it. Here you can see the result of the waterfall.
Apparently, 300000 litres of water go through this point per second.	That's the falls in the background.	This is Taupo Bay, lake in the background.	This is the Matariki show that we went to for dinner. It was entertainment and traditional Mauri cooking together.
The stage area of the Matariki night.	We were busy waiting for a large delegate of koreans to arrive. They were late, we were hungry and Daniel was sleepy	Finally, the show started.	Everyone is dressed tradiditonally.
There was dancing.	Singing.	And we were doing the Haka.	Daniel sitting on stage.
The group	My family with a Maori warrior.	Earlier that night, this was the "hangi". Too modern... but they couldn't use traditional methods because of smoke regulations apparently. Whe cooking hangi, you have a hole in the ground, fire inside it, rocks on top, then food on top draped in cloths. It is basically steamed food. Pretty nice.	Dancing.
The famous tongue, used to make fun of the opposition and provoke them.	More of the Haka from us.