I have to come back the Kiwi Hospitality. Imagine, you go shopping in Pack´N Save, store everythin in the paniers and are just about to sit on the saddel to keep on going. Then someone just asks you where you are going to spend the night. Half an hour later you sit in the home of a wonderful couple who had returned from their 14 months bike tour (in Southeast asia and Europe to Iran), probably falling back into travel mode seeing packed up bikes. Well, we ended up having the house to ourselves, as they went out for dinner and the next morning we were easily convinced to have a day off, enjoying Taupo. We took the opportunity to cycle to along New Zealands biggest lake, the beautiful blue water with the high vulcanic Mountains Ruapehu, Ngaurohu, Tongoriro at National Park in central North Island. At the next river mouth we tryed to fish again, but once more without luck. First of all we didn´t catch anything and then we found out, that we were not even allowed to use our spinning fishing gear here. As the lake belongs to the local Maori, people are only allowed to use it for recreation because the state pays quite some money, and the rules, what people are allowed and what not are quite strict. Anyway, it was a nice day and it was followed by a pleasant evening with a BBQ and chatting happily with the great hosts.
Incredible how spontanous, open hearted we had been welcomed.