Allison and I have been blessed with mostly clear weather thus far, so we can’t really complain when we wake up to rain on our way out of Rotorua. We plan to spend the day driving to the lakeside town of Taupo and then continuing on to Waitomo for the evening in anticipation of our caving tour the next day.

We park at the Huka Falls overlook. Check out the little blue boat below — they motor right up to the base so its passengers feel the intensity of the falls.

We want to explore the trails around Huka Falls, but decide to keep driving towards Taupo to wait out the rain.

Oh look, there’s a winery.

We grab a bite to eat and can’t resist some dessert for the road.

By now the rain is slowing down so we walk along Lake Taupo.

We encounter these guys trying to hit golf balls onto the target in the lake.

With the weather having mostly cleared up, we return to Huka Falls for a short hike. The water is practically a jewel tone.

Allison points out Huka Lodge, an extraordinarily upscale and expensive accommodation for “rock stars,” according to someone we meet in town. I wonder how many rock stars come to this area on any given night.

Here’s the same overlook spot we stopped at this morning in the rain (check out the very first photo of this post for a comparison). So much prettier now!

Nearby is a honey bee store that our waitress at the winery suggests we visit as a good rainy day activity.

It’s fun to sample the various flavors of honey (there are loads of them) but after twenty minutes or so we’re ready to move on and drive to Waitomo.

“Hey cow!” is a game Allison plays back in the U.S. when passing by farmland. If the cow looks back at you, you win!

We stop at the cave tour center in Waitomo to scout out our plan for the next day. The woman at the counter highly suggests we eat at Huhu Cafe for dinner; it proves to be a stellar recommendation.

I get the pumpkin soup and some much-needed broccoli for dinner.

And then I spoil it by sharing this peanut butter ice cream truffle with Allison for dessert.

Totally worth it.