Today we head to Rotorua. We have really enjoyed staying in City Life Motel. Having a TV in the main bedroom and 2 separate bathrooms has given us all a little extra space, as it can get a bit crowded when we are all together in a small area. A casual start to our morning, getting packed and having breaky. We were on the road by 9:30am with our longest drive ahead of us. We were looking forward to a nice straight road and a motorway-get quicker to our destination than we have on the South Island. We were wrong! No 3 lane highway, but instead a single lane road with slow lanes for overtaking and you can only drive 100km here. There were so many towns along the way and we had to slow down to 50km in every single one of them. Mazz was very surprised to see in a small town a whole heap of seconds shops and a DFO! She managed to hold herself back and let Paul continue to drive. The drive wasn't as spectacular as the South Island but it definitely looks like the land where Hobbits would live- beautiful green rolling hills. We stopped in a town called Taihape which was pretty much a one street town but had a Subway, McDonalds and a KFC. We haven't had much luck with bakeries here- they don't know what a real cinnamon donut is. We did find one in a bakery and they called it a round donut! Aren't donuts round???? Once we all chose what to have for lunch we continued on our journey.
The landscape began to change after awhile as we were heading on the Volcanic Loop Highway. In the distance we could see Mt Ruapehu, which is an active volcano and is the North Island's major ski fields. Mt Ruapehu is the largest active volcano in New Zealand. It has three major peaks: Tahurangi (2797m), Te Heuheu (2755m) and Paretetaitonga (2751m). The deep active crater is between these peaks and fills with a lake between major eruptions. The last time is erupted was in 2007. And of course some scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed on the slopes- Mount Doom (Mt Ruapehu) is in Mordo! We were very surprised to still see snow on top of the volcano. Very spectacular!
We then drove passed Lake Taupo. It is a huge lake which has a perimeter of aprrox 193km. It is a very busy place and can attract over 1.2 billion visitors over the Christmas and New Years period.
We finally arrived into Rotorua after a 5 hour journey. Our hotel is on the outskirts of the town and is ok- it has all it needs. There is a New Years Eve party in town near Lake Rotorua called GLO party. We decide not to join the rest of the crowd and just have a yummy steak and salad for dinner. It can get quiet tiring driving for hours, so its an early night for us and cross fingers we will get nice weather while we are here, although the forecast is for rain in the afternoon.
The landscape began to change after awhile as we were heading on the Volcanic Loop Highway. In the distance we could see Mt Ruapehu, which is an active volcano and is the North Island's major ski fields. Mt Ruapehu is the largest active volcano in New Zealand. It has three major peaks: Tahurangi (2797m), Te Heuheu (2755m) and Paretetaitonga (2751m). The deep active crater is between these peaks and fills with a lake between major eruptions. The last time is erupted was in 2007. And of course some scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed on the slopes- Mount Doom (Mt Ruapehu) is in Mordo! We were very surprised to still see snow on top of the volcano. Very spectacular! 
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