Rotorua - Taupo

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Thermal Explorer Highway

This Highway cuts through the highlands in the centre of the North Island. There are volcanoes and geothermal vents all over the place once you get closer to Rotorua. Theres even some geothermal power plants along the way.

Rotorua

We drove to Rotorua around midday and took a little detour to the Buried Village east of town. The village was buried in the late 1800's by a volcano blast and is now used as a tourist attraction with guided walk and museum, we didn't have time to check it out though. Along the way are the Green and Blue Lakes, sacred to the Maori people, you are told not to swim or fish or touch the Green Lake because it is tapu (sacred). The water in each lake is noticeably the colour they are named for.

Further along the little scenic route is Lake Terawera which is a small village with beautiful lookouts above the lake. You can take a water taxi across the lake from the town to some Department of Conservation trails and camp sites. There is also another Hot Water Beach where the taxi drops you off across the lake. We just might have to spend some more time here this summer, since we just took some pictures and headed out.

We also stopped at the Redwoods. This is an area of California Redwood forest that is now used as a recreational walking area on the outskirts of Rotorua. The trails and giant trees are absolutely beautifully and combined with the thermal pools and native ferns and palms you kind of feel like your in a time machine in there. There was actually an UFO simulator just down the road in the Redwoods, we didn't check it out, but it did look pretty fun.

Taupo

The drive from Rotorua to Taupo is absolutely littered with spots to stop for thermal pools scenic geothermal walks, Jet Boat and white water rafting tours and other tourist/adventure/awesome attractions. We checked out Huka Falls just outside Taupo which was pretty cool. There is a bridge over the shallow/steep ravine that makes the falls and there are tour companies which jet boat and white water raft them. The total drop is something like 7 m and I think they were Class 5 (big) rapids.

Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in New Zealand at 600 + km^2. It is actually water in the calderra of a volcano which some locals have told us its still active beneath the water. South of the lake is Tongariro National Park with three mounts, all of which are volcanoes. One starred as Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies and one (the recently active one!) is used as a ski resort. You can hike from the top of the lift to the craters edge and ski down from it. One local said she knew someone who was grooming the ski hill when the mountain blew its top in the late nineties.

The wind came across the lake from those snowcapped volcanoes really hard and we were woken by hail the first morning and a chilling 2 degrees Celsius the second morning. We were tenting. We decided to head back to the beach and check out the volcanoes again in summer. On the way back to Tauranga we blew a tire so we got to try our New Zealand roadside assistance. They were pretty quick and helpful. We ended up getting two new tires in Rotorua and made it back to Tauranga just in time to check in to our hostel. After freezing our butts in the mountains we decided dorm beds would be just fine, but the place was full so we got our own room for the same price anyway!

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Photos

Tree Hugger Carla
Californian Redwood Forest by Rotorua

Nick See's a Jaguar
What do you see?

Comments

[Greg & Ida]

Yes, Nick we see you cat!
More nice pics! It sounds so nice and warm out there, especially when I look out my window and see the snow. But it is warming up, there are alot of grey clouds and wind so now I guess we will get rain, just to give the snow that nice icy touch! It's good to know the road side assist works. Your 'view to the top" pic would make a nice post card, as would most of your pics. Keep them coming! Love Yous! (That's a word, right?)

[Jane]

That's one BIG tree!
Wow, what a big tree! Whoever is taking those pics, (I assume it's Nick, sorry Carla, ha) should get a job for Tourism NZ, beautiful pics to have in your lifetime of memories book. Sounds like the weather was a bit chilly for a few nights in the mountains. enjoy reading your blog! keep em coming. love ya's, love mom