Nick in exsilio's photostream  

6.1.2011: Waikato River leaving Lake Taupo through a very narrow gorge

6.1.2011: the Waikato River leaving Lake Taupo with a rush and a roar

6.1.2011: a German tourist in a Youth Hostel alerted me to the existence of this great little spot near Taupo on the drive back from Wellington to Auckland, where you can go and take a free bathe in hot springs that boil out into the Waikato River. The springs themselves are really too hot to sit in, but there are plent of nice warm spots under the bridge where the springs cool into the river. A lovely way of breaking a 750km drive. If you want to know where it is, I've geotagged the exact spot on this photo.

6.1.2012: monument to the Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha opposite the Rangiātea church which he had built at Otaki. He is not remembered with much fondness in the South Island where he used his muskets to expand his territories and settle inter-tribal scores. The best known of the haka performed by the All Blacks ("Ka mate, ka mate") is attributed to him.

6.1.20121: site of the historical church built between 1844 and 1849 by the warlord chief (and non-Christian) Te Rauparaha at Otaki. The interior of the church was a remarkable fusion of Maori and neo-gothic architecture. Unfortunately the church burnt down in 1995. The current church is to a large extent a replica of the original. The cemetery contains the graves of many notable Maori and Pakeha figures from the Kapiti Coast. I noticed that two children of the CMS missionary Octavius Hadfield are buried on the hill behind the church.