Day Two

So today is a beautiful day, a little cool in the morning but very nice. We are headed to play the Taupo Golf Club Centennial Course. This is a links course so off the fairway is big trouble.

Yes, we have learned to use a trolley on most courses.




There is no extra charge for those of you looking to improve your golf. Take note of how precisely I place my hands on the club! Behind me in the bush you can see some steam (just to the left of the tee marker rock, the 2nd shrub looks outlined in white) coming up from the ground...there are geothermal effects throughout this entire area. We were told that there are places on the course that you can feel the heat underground as you are walking.

After golf we headed down town for lunch. This is a shot across Lake Taupo with Mount
Ngauruhoe, Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings movies, in the background. It is the perfectly formed cone just to the right of the mountain with the snow on it. Yes it is mid-summer here.

After lunch we headed southeast over to the coast and Napier. On the way we saw this beautiful waterfall.

We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel in Napier. As you can see our view was directly at the Pacific Ocean. My favorite tree is on the left, a Norfolk Pine.