Tongariro river rafting

Hello all,
This is shaping up to be a right good vacation, and one of these days my tablet shall connect to internet to be able to share my advrntures.
So the camper park I stayed at last night was fairly terrible, but I understand why now.  In the 60s Tauranga was a boom town because the NZ govt had sponsored a huge project to dig an underground river to feed a hydro plant. After the project finished most of the town died with just some remaining to support the tourist industry around Tongariro parks.  So I can't fault the campground, but I didn't want to stay either.  An annoying aspect is that they issued keys to keep "those damn freedom campers" from stealing free showers, and they I could not reclaim my deposit until 8.  Well at 645 I decided to visit a geothermal spring walk.  Very HOT and a bit stinky.  You can see the steam rising above the land here which is too cool.  I then went to a lake walk called Roto something because the lake is very round and rather high up a mountain.
I returned to Turanga and got my 10$ back and then went to my adventure.  First, I hired a mountain bike and went on a nice trail along the tongariro river, fed from mount tongaririo and other local mountains.  The river ride was really sweet and I also stopped for a walk at NZs national trout hatchery where they grow 120k trout a year to spread to rivers all over.  I tools some cool pics of some very big fish and lots of them.  I then continued my ride which was about 3 hours and got at one point to 300 m above the river which was really cool.  I rode back and thought that I was really tired by 11 am, but the day was young.  I rode to town to buy a mussel pie and a quiche and then back to don a wetsuit helmet and jacket and get ready to whitewater raft.
The area of the Tongariro that I rode around was very little rapids and class 2 at the worst, but our guide, a former Aussie, brought us much further up to where some right good waters are.  I didn't bring a camera but this was just fantastic, a few class 3 rapids with the rest solid 2s with very short pools in between.  We went down more than 60 rapids and this was just a total blast.  At one point we jumped off an embankment into the water.  Some stodgy old man inside me said don't get wet but I am still young and did the jump twice to spite him.  It was cold water, 7 or 8 C but not too bad underneath my clothing.  I was at the gfront which is also the most fun place to be because I was the one to get splashed the most and hit things.  Our guide was great and this was an incredible experience and well worth the dollars, more so than many other things.
However look over it as I did two hours later our trip ended with a cold bunch.  No worries! We were transported to the same thermal pools I had walked around in the morning, and they warmed us right up.  Afterwards, a hot shower and I was right as rain!
Back at the HQ, I had more impetus to scratch the itch of an all day hike, so I booked travel through the Tongariro crossing for tomorrow.  The staff also pointed me to laundry and food and wine(quite Important).  So I went to town to get my laundry done: I would need clean clothes and spares for tomorrow, got some very good prawns lo mein which were spectacular, and picked up a fine malbec.  And now, since I had already showered for the day I was willing to try out this freedom camping thing.  The staff pointed me towards this campsite 15 minutes from the start of my Tongariro walk so I drove there. When zi arrived I was just 2 other vans, but as time progressed it became 15 vans and cars with mostly poor high school and college kids avoiding the scant 15$ fees of a campground.  Or perhaps they are thinking convenience like myself, and we have to be at the parking lot before 630 to be picked up by a bus to be transported to the other end of the Tongariro crossing.  Anyway, tomorrow will be a good hike.
I have packed 4 l of water, 5 oranges, an apple, 3 granola bars, and a ham and butter sandwich, as well as extra socks for my feet and hands, my camp towel to use as a turban, a pair of exercise shorts as a neck gaiter, and an extra long sleeve shirt.  It had better hold me.  I have been told this crossing is no joke and conditions are unpredictable, max altitude just less than 2km so that makes me realize my other day on mount ruapehu.  
Cheers!