Leaving New Plymouth via Stratford we travelled the Forgotten World Highway to Lake Taupo. The day started clear and we could see the elusive peak of Mt Taranaki that we'd missed out seeing much of the prior day. The Forgotten World Highway was very picturesque hilly farming land for the first half of its western end. We stopped for a drink at the Whangamomona Hotel – a self declared ‘republic’, walked through sheep to a small waterfall (Mt Damper Falls) before arriving drivn gfrom the southern end of Lake Taupo to arriving in Taupo just before a pretty sunset from a motel overlooking the lake.