Birthday party and Orakei Korako

After our trip, the gentlemen had to go to the hairdresser. We were recommended an Iranian and it was quite funny there... Afterwards, we went to Raglan by the sea once again and had a cozy family evening with visitors from the USA. On Saturday, we jumped out of the house when we heard Mr. Whippy (ice cream truck). Unfortunately, it was a false alarm... 10 minutes later, we dared to go out on the street again and finally got some ice cream! Later on, we celebrated our 40th anniversary with Tanya in Whatawhata. It was a cozy evening and I received a super awesome cake! On Sunday evening, we met with Jeannine Schär and Christian Zobrist at a food truck event in Hamilton. It was a cozy evening and we could exchange travel stories with each other... On Tuesday, we set off early in the morning towards Taupo. 9 years ago, we visited the thermal park 'Orakei Korako'. It blew us away, so we wanted to show it to our children. We arrived there in beautiful weather and took the ferry across. The kids were amazed by the steaming ground... Nature presented itself in the most diverse colors. We walked through the incredible landscape for about 2 hours and unanimously agreed that this place is still magical! Then we went to Taupo and cooled off in the pool! For once, we treated ourselves to a special dinner - in a restaurant with over 200 different wines! The next day, we started with a delicious breakfast and went to the Aratiatia Dam. The locks are opened every 2 hours. A special spectacle. Within a very short time, the water level rose by 8 meters! Afterwards, we drove back towards Hamilton. We stopped at the Blue Springs in Putaruru. Without Nina's tip, we would have missed it... We were surprised by the beauty and tranquility! In Tirau, we had an ice cream and quickly moved on to the next pool!!! On Thursday, after my physiotherapy session, we went to the Hamilton Gardens. We enjoyed the different themes in the garden and discovered many things. Later on, we walked along the Waikato River for a while and ended the day once again in the pool!!!