The road from Wellington to Taupo is a unique drive compared to other areas in New Zealand. While New Zealand is known for it’s lush and rolling terrain, this area of New Zealand, contained within Tongariro National Park, turns into plateau desert with volcanic peaks dotting the landscape. The most famous volcano in this area, thanks to the trilogy Lord of the Rings is Mt. Mgauruhoe that stood in for Mt. Doom. The low cloud and overcast day provided the perfect degree of shrouding to the volcano and ensured it retained it’s spooky mystique.
We pulled into Taupo and located a Holiday Park a little bit outside the city centre and decided to stay for two days, as we had been on the go for a few days. Funny that Taupo is the place we decide to set up camp for an extended stay. A mate of mine from Canada went to teachers college in New Zealand and ended up teaching for two years in Taupo, and I was able to meet up with him before his departure back to Canada. He gave us few ideas of what to do with our day in Taupo on the cheap. After a nice home cooked meal we ended up calling it a relatively early night.
We took our time waking up and getting ready in the morning as it was nice to just relax. We’d decide to leave the car parked for the first time on the trip and head out for a hike. Not far from our cabin was the start of a leisurely hike along a river that ran past a hot spring and a popular waterfall. It was a relaxing walk along the river, with a gravel path that ebbed and flowed with the movements of the bank. We were the only ones on the path until we reached the waterfall, which in actuality is a narrowed section of river (a shallow gorge) that turns into rapids with a 2m drop at the end. I guess technically it is a waterfall, but it wasn’t what I was expected when I heard ‘waterfall’. A tourist centre and parking lot lies on the other side of a bridge at the waterfall and was quite busy. We managed to acquire the only picnic bench and sat down for a lovely meal of cheese, breads, dips, vegetables and fruit. This is how lunch should always be.
We had to backtrack to return to our cabin and took the opportunity to explore a few paths that branched off from the main path. One path led us to the point in the river where the gorge began and the rapids stood up, a perfect spot for Karate Kid photos. When we returned to the beginning of the trail we took off our sandals and tested out the hot spring, that was surprisingly hot (I think, I haven’t had that much experience with hot springs).
A lovely day in Taupo ended with a light rain and another relaxing evening in. Our plan for tomorrow was to make a stop in Rotorua, the thermal hub of New Zealand, then push on to Auckland. The journey was nearing it’s end.
fresh comments