Lake Taupo - Dale's Bach 16 Jan 09

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Lake Taupo


Weekend of Friday 16th Jan - Sunday 18th January 2009



We set off south last Friday evening for Lake Taupo where Dale has a Bach (A Bach is the term Kiwi's use for a basic holiday "hut" but they never seem to be that basic but they keep the name anyway!). It was a fun drive seeing some lovely green scenery (and many, many, many a cow and a few thousand sheep too) and getting to know some new people. Shame I couldn't actually see the lake when we arrived but they told me it looks very nice.........


Saturday


........and it does - very nice!

Its huge - about 100 odd miles round and over 180 metres deep at its max!!! It was a beautiful day and I wanted to stay and fish for trout and waterski from Dales boat but we had booked in for a bit of a caving sesh underneath the Tongariro National Park.....ooooh......


Yes it was quite scary and I am very glad they provided helmets - put it that way. I also wished I had started that diet sooner as we were squeezed through holes you would think it impossible for humans to be squeezed through (one aptly being named the "Rebirth"). We were up and over rocks and through streams with eels rubbing against us and in the pitch dark it was really cool to see the hundreds of little glow worms hard at work. I LOVED it!!!


We got very wet and dirty and it was tiring but a wee soak in the lake sorted us (well up to our ankles got soaked anyway as it was a bit too cold for a full swim - didn't stop Brian though!!) and we took in some great scenery - I was especially excited to see Mount Ngauruhoe (don't ask me - everything is difficult to pronounce here) which is actually Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings in real life (or have I got that confused......). I plan to come back again soon to do the climb which is part of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and follow in the footsteps of my heroes Frodo and Sam.


We had a gret BBQ that night with some lovely Kiwi wine (of course) and thank god I went to bed before the night took a turn and ended up in a game of a certain variety of poker and a dip in the lake!! These Kiwis - I don't know!!



Sunday



We had a great breakfast of trout and eggs this am courtesy of Dale and Geoff's catches yesterday (fish, not eggs, which dissapointingly didn't win the local fishing comp that was on this weekend) and lazed about inside the Bach reading the NZ papers as the weather had got a bit Scottish. SO waterskiing was off. I was gutted but am hoping there will be another opportunity to do that soon....


We headed home via, first the Huka Falls on the Waikato River then a little town called Tirau which is set on the South Waikato which is famous for its Big Sheep and Big Dog. Why do people from Oz and NZ do that do you think - create "Big things" but they do seem to attract the crowds. In Oz I have seen the Big Mango and Big Prawn but these were my first for NZ - I will see how many more I can find during my time here - Challenge!!



I can't wait to go back to Lake Taupo some time with the Tennis Club gang. We had lots of fun and I am told its a good area for skiing in winter...................can't wait!!!

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