but it was too windy, which was kinda OK by me since I was a bit hungover. My friend Becky that I met in Queenstown was in Taupo so we met up for drinks and trivia at a local pub. It was packed, but we ended up taking 3rd place! The Norwegian-American alliance celebrated by ordering more drinks. We drank more than our livers wanted and I spent most of the next day hungover and just walking around checking out the town inbetween rainclouds. I wonder if jumping out of the plane would have cured my hangover? Discuss. Lake Taupo is the trout fishing capital of the world and it would have been fun to actually spend some time on the lake, but it was too cold and the wind was too strong to take a boat or kayak out so I just walked around the lake (partly) and watched the ducks frolic. They are so cute! Seeing a mallard duck reminded me of home (they were introduced to NZ in the early 1900's) when me, my sisters and my Dad would feed the ducks after going through the Reading Museum. Ah memories...The day after the hangover I took a bus out to the Craters of the Moon thermal park after I went skydiving. Taupo is right in the middle of some geothermal activity so there were all
kinds of stuff to see like volcanoes, hot springs, crater lakes, bubbling mud pools, etc. It was pretty strange and kinda eerie and I kept thinking there was going to be a freak explosion at any point. As you can see there is a lot of steam escaping and a quite unfortunate byproduct of this is the smell. It smells like rotten eggs or a huge fart, mainly from the sulphur being released, so sometimes I wouldn't smell anything out of the ordinary and then, 'wham!' a whiff smacks me in the face - ewwwwww. I had a very early night that night. It was the night before ANZAC Day, a national holiday for both Australia and New Zealand and probably the most revered. It commemorates the landing of ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corp) troops on the shores of Gallipoli in WWI and the terrible losses that occurred during the campaign, which ended in total failure. It now now honors all those who fought and died for Australia and New Zealand. Traditionally it starts with a dawn service that coincides with the time the troops went ashore on Gallipoli, where retired and current military members fall in and march to the local war memorial. I woke up and made it to the start at 5:50am, just in time to see everyone fall in and for the bagpipers begin playing and start marching. Noting wakes you up quite like bagpipes at 6am! There were a lot of people out to see the parade of service men and women and it surprised me, since it was so damn early. The crowd followed the parade to the war memorial where there was a speech by an army officer, the singing of 'God Save the Queen', a speech from a Maori army officer, a traditional haka, the singing of the New Zealand national anthem, guns fired, and a moment of silence. It was a very moving and solemn occasion and it was something that I was honored to witness.
After the dawn service I went back and slept for a bit before packing and heading to Rotarua, where I continued to stay off my ass.
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