This part of our adventure covers about 2 days.

First off was a stop on the Waikato river and Huka Falls

Leaving Huka Falls in Taupo, we head south to Turangi
to pick up a replacement LPG gas heater for the van as the
old one was faulting, see post
"The Next Setback

Once we picked up the new heater the plan was to head to the
snow at Tongariro National Park. Unfortunately it looked
like the snow was well above the road-end so we bypassed Whakapapa
and headed straight down the Desert Rd. It was nice to see the re-built
road where it was closed over summer. On route we had clear
skies and a fantastic view of the mountains.

After coming off the desert plateau we passed through the interesting
area around Flat Hills with it steep pumice cliffs and river gorges.

It was then off to Feilding for an early stop by the river. I took the
opportunity to install the replacement heater for the van, although we
didn't need it this night.

The next morning it was finishing off the last couple of things outside
of the camper that I didn't manage to complete with the onset of darkness.

The girls met a road-schooler boy and his family's young pup, played at
the river for a while while we set up breakfast then emptied the grey-water
and topped up the fresh.

It was then off to Palmy (Palmerston North) for showers, laundry, lunch
and shopping. This seemed to take up most of the day. With what little
daylight we had left (remember this is the week of the shortest day) we
headed to Otaki beach where the girls enjoyed lighting a fire on the beach
and a hot chocolate after dinner.