A Couple Of TARTS!

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Thursday 3rd March and our short stay in Napier came to an end. Before we left we had time to stroll to the post box and we also popped in to the i Site again to get a map of the central part of North Island. Excellent maps are supplied free which has been a great help to us. Alas, it didn’t stop us taking the wrong route out of Napier so we wasted 20 minutes or so before we found the correct direction. Fortunately, the journey to our next destination, Taupo, wasn’t too far so we weren’t too concerned about the slight detour. It followed a similar pattern to other recent journeys – hilly with beautiful scenery, plenty of large lorries and lots of road works. We made the usual stop for a cuppa from our flask and enjoyed a splendid valley view. A few kilometers further on we noticed a sign to a lookout. We’re quite keen on lookouts so we drove off the main road for only a short distance to what, at first, appeared to be a fairly innocuous car park. But on closer inspection, apart from another pleasant valley view, we were just a few meters from some very impressive water falls – well worth the short diversion. Soon we reached Taupo, famous for its beautiful lake which is a place we had visited on our trip 8 years ago, but only for a lunch stop. This time we were booked in for three nights and easily found our motel which was ideally placed just a few meters from the lake’s edge and quite close to the town centre. Checking in proved very straightforward but came with some information which the motel owner delivered most apologetically. He explained that we might suffer some inconvenience during our stay but, actually, Graham was thrilled to bits. In two days time, on the Saturday, Taupo was to be the venue for New Zealand’s biggest Ironman event and all three sections – swimming, cycling and running – would go past the end of our road which, at times, would be closed off! Apparently, when the agents enquired about accommodation on our behalf, the motel was fully booked as were all motels in Taupo. But a timely cancellation meant we could have a ground floor apartment which was huge although a bit dated.

Having checked in and with the sun shining strongly we went the short distance to town and found a lovely restaurant for lunch. There was already an “Ironman” feel to the place with extremely fit looking people clad in sporting gear strolling around. Many more were doing training runs or cycling whilst quite a few were swimming in the lake – all, presumably, involved in final preparations for the big event. We found our way to the i Site to find some local tourist information and noticed several large marquees next to a conference centre. They were full of all types of Ironman paraphernalia with stands promoting cycles, clothing, food etc etc and a few “stars” of the event being photographed endorsing various items. It was all fascinating stuff and Graham was in his element and we both picked up some NutriGrain freebies. It was also in the area where the “transitions” would take place on Saturday ie swim to bike, bike to run, and the actual finish of the event. So we now knew where the key locations would be to watch as much of the event as we could. But, with even the best competitors taking nearly 9 hours or more to complete it, we would need to plan our day carefully.

Today, though, we wandered on to the harbour/marina area and noticed that a two hour steam boat tour of the lake left at 5:00pm. We booked a couple of seats and went back to the motel to settle in properly. By this time, the motel had taken on an “ironman” feel with expensive looking bikes on stands here and there and wet suits hanging in the laundry. Also there was an intriguing large car parked by the next unit to us with the registration IONWMN and we wondered who the owner was. Anyway, at 5 o’clock, there we were aboard the Ernest Kemp steam boat making our way out into the lake. The boat wasn’t full and, fortunately, we were able to select seats on the right hand side. Although this gave us pretty much an all round view, the boat proceeded to follow an anti-clockwise route, hugging the shoreline so we were ideally placed to view the splendid coastline properties and the scenery about which the “captain” was giving a running commentary. The main focus of the trip was the world famous Maori Rock Carvings which came at about half way through the cruise. Apparently, in the late 1970s, master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell came to the area that his mother had once lived in at Lake Taupō. On a boat trip around the Western Bays he saw the cliffs at Mine Bay and decided to use them as a canvas for his work. Matahi decided to carve a likeness of Ngatoroirangi, a visionary Maori navigator who guided the Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa tribes to the Taupō area over a thousand years ago. In recognition of the multi-cultural nature of New Zealand, Matahi also carved two smaller figures of Celtic design, which depict the south wind and a mermaid. The Ngatoroirangi carving took four summers to complete and the carvers took no payment other than donations to cover the cost of the scaffolding. The carving has become an important cultural attraction for the region and is a wonderful gift to the local people and visitors alike. They were truly amazing and the boat was able to stay in the area for quite a while so that passengers could take photos from different angles. From there we proceeded across the lake to the opposite shoreline (the lake is 164 kilometers around so it would have taken a long time to go right round) to where there was a Hot Water Beach. The area is full of thermal hot water springs and at one part of the beach it is possible to dig a small recess in the sand and bathe in hot water of about 30 degrees – hotter if you dig deeper! The trip continued along the lakefront and back to the harbour and we were delighted with our “spur of the moment” decision to do it. On our way back to the motel we bought a Chinese takeaway to finish off what had been a great day.

On Friday, after a fairly leisurely start, we drove through town and made for The Huka Falls. On the way, and just on the edge of town, was another lookout which gave a reasonable view of Taupo with the lake beyond. Within minutes we were at The Huka Falls which we had visited 8 years ago. They were just as impressive as we remembered them. The tourist viewing areas are at a point where the water, which is the overflow from the lake, passes through a narrow gorge and then drops about 10 meters so the power and pressure of the water is immense and the colour is a very striking aqua blue. We spent quite some time there but then made our way to an area I had seen advertised but wasn’t sure whether it would be our “cup of tea”. It was called The Craters of the Moon and boasted some volcanic evidence with plenty of bubbling mud pools, craters, steaming vents and the like. On arrival we were still unsure about it but as it was only a few dollars to enter we went in. Having been to White Island, these things tend to pale into insignificance by comparison but, actually, it was good. It took about an hour to get round and, in terms of value for money, we were pleased we went in.

When we came out we thought we had developed double vision as parked next to TART was an identical car and from the same rental company! We never saw who was driving it though. Whilst on the subject of cars, we’re sure Sarah and Darryl would be interested to know that in New Zealand we’ve seen quite a few Terrano’s, far more than in Aus, and identical Nissans that went by the name of Mistral. We went back to the motel where, for lunch, we partook of our NutriGrain freebies we had picked up the day before.

I had seen some natural thermal baths advertised in reception and I fancied lounging in the warm pools as we had done in Rotorua many years before. So we changed into our bathers and drove just a few minutes along the road to investigate what was on offer. Sure enough there were some lovely looking steam pools available as well as some private pools. It was very expensive but, as we hadn’t over-indulged ourselves since we’d been in Taupo, we paid the extra to enable us to have access to a private pool. It was splendid – even Graham enjoyed it and he had been reluctant to go at first. Our tickets enabled us to move between our private under-cover pool to the large open-air pool and we decided to try both. But just as we made our way outside it began to rain so we went back into our private pool. The advice was not to stay in for too long for health and safety reasons so after about an hour we decided we’d had enough. Back outside the rain, which had been forecast to continue into the night and throughout the day of the Ironman event, was heavier and we wondered what affect it would have on performances and attendances on the Saturday. To finish today in style we went to a posh restaurant near the motel and indulged ourselves once more with a large three-course meal with wine – a part celebration also of our splendid time in New Zealand.

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Photos

Twin TARTS
good thing Graham could tell the difference!

More mountainous countryside
on the road to Taupo

Tea-break with a view
of the Twin Waiarua Falls (can't quite see the second one)

More fascinating carvings
but we had to look closely to make out the figures