Taupo: Lake Tour

Hey everyone,
More on Lake Taupo! For the second day of our trip, we decided to see the Māori carvings located nearby. They were done in the 1970's using traditional tools and techniques, and are only viewable by boat (or maybe some kind of jetpack device).
They are quite impressive, and the trip over was pleasant and sunny. We all had fun chatting and drinking copious amounts of complimentary tea in the pseudo-galley/bar downstairs. There was also a pigeon launcher on the back of the boat? I think we might have signed up for the wrong scenic cruise... shotguns and boats with bars ALWAYS mix well (that would also be about as close as I'll ever be to becoming a pirate, which would be sweet).
I was, of course, being my usual annoying self and taking lots of photos of people while they were trying in vain to have an unfettered conversation for a few moments. And true to form, I also decided to muck with said photos by tone-mapping them... HDR post-editing is turning out to be quite addictive for me...

Our cameras and bladders sufficiently filled with photos and tea, respectively, we headed back to shore and made our way to the Champagne Baths a short drive away. I'm going to leave that one for the next post.

Take care until then faithful reader(s?),

--David