With a relatively short drive in front of us today, we didn’t plan on leaving Taupo until after lunch. This meant Liam could go see his friends at the bouncing pillow, and Emily could sleep in.

We also had another hour or two in the hot pools before lunch at the café at Taupo DeBretts. So in the end it was after 12 before we drove out of Taupo for Napier. Initially, a calm drive with decent weather and straight roads through paddocks, this soon changed. The rain and wind and the winding roads seemed to hit at the same time. We even drove through a couple of clouds.

The weather had calmed down a bit by the time we drove into Napier at 2pm and checked in to our motel. We did a quick unpack then headed out on foot for the National Aquarium on Marine Parade.   Windy and cold, but no longer raining, thankfully. The aquarium was pretty interesting. There was a newish display about tectonic plates, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. There were tanks full of fish, turtles and tortoises, one alligator, some lizards, a kiwi and some penguins. We attended the penguin feeding and the keeper explained that all the little penguins were there as they couldn’t survive in the wild. Some had been abandoned by their parents, others injured by boats, animals or fishing line.  There was also the often-seen walkway with domed plastic, under a large tank with more fish, stingrays and sharks. We spent an enjoyable two hours there.

We took a slightly scenic route back to our accommodation. Along the grey pebbled waterfront and then up a back street. After last night’s late night, we are having an early dinner and getting everyone to bed early. Another big drive is ahead of us tomorrow – about 4 hours to Wellington, and it seems unbelievable that we are only a couple of days away from the ferry trip to the south island.