Day 8 - Through the Hobbit Hole

Saying goodbye to the lakeside playground of Taupo (with most of our laundry unwashed, thanks Hilton Hotels) we headed up the Forgotten Highway to lunch in the self declared independent republic of Whangamomona, accessed through the ‘hobbit hole’ tunnel of barely a car’s width. A mix of tarmac and gravel regularities before and after lunch. PP and Penny have wrangled into submission their GPS-powered tripmeter in the MG and scored a very creditable 14 seconds penalties for the day, with Daphne’s crew managing a respectable 20 secs.  Daphne threw her now customary daily mechanical flounce, a detached rear damper which meant most of the day was like driving a Renault 4 across a trampoline park. Eventually fettled back into place, in torrential rain, at the overnight stop in Whakapapa, which is a bit like Rannoch Moor but with pampas grass.