On from Taupo to Auckland

I get up a dawn and wonder if I should knock on the RV door to see if the BHD was returned but I figure that I should just leave well enough alone. Also I figured that if they did bring back the BHD it would have been very early in the morning and they probably wanted to sleep in. So I hit the road and headed down to the Taupo Hot Springs. For only $6 I get to have a soak in the hot mineral spring baths and I can get to use their showers!!! The soak is wonderful and I decide to have a massage as well which was also wonderful. Again I hit the road. Next stop the Crates of the Moon which is just a large thermal vent area. But it was interesting. Worth a few pictures. Again I hit the road. I stop for lunch at lake Rototoa it really is really a tourist location. It is one of the first tourist destinations in the country due to its hot springs. Now they have all sorts of adventure things trying to become another Queenstown. I only stay long enough to eat and have a nap next to the lake( did I mention that I was nursing a hangover from the night before). Again I hit the road. Following the coast I travel up the coast, across the base of the Coromandle Peninsula and finally on to the motorway that leads to Auckland.

I stop at a motor way fueling center that reminds me of the big truck stops along the I-5 and I gas up and give Paul Hayward a call. Paul gives me direction to his house and I hit the road again. The motorway is virtually empty at this time of night ( ~9:30 pm) so I sail through the city. This is the first time that Homey has gotten up to 100 kph. I cross over the harbor bridge that separates the main city from the North Shore and continue up to Rothsey Bay where Paul’s house is located. I pull up to the house and seen a sea of kayaks parked out front. Must be the place I think. I park and ring the door bell. And thus begins the CoastBusters weekend.