Blogs from Taupo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

Geo: -38.6866, 176.07Actually, this day was EN ROUTE TO LAKE TAUPO. Although our lovely hosts at the B&B in Thames looked at us askance, we DID visit both the movie set for the Hobbit & Lord of the Rings movies, and the Waitomomo caves (a sort of Zig Zag route) AND we happened upon a kiwi sanctuary and visited there too. Yes, we arrived in the dark, and didn't eat our frozen Moroccan tagine microwavable meal till 9 pm, but it was worth it. Those 2 sites would have meant driving back quite a ways from lovely Lake Taupo - which is, acc to a book, the size of Singapore. Formed from huge (seen in China and beyond) eruption. This is the caldera.So, most photos are from the Hobbiton set, which was lovely. The tours were ... read more

16 mai: Je me suis levée relativement tôt pour aller marcher, mais je suis partie tout d'abord à l'office du tourisme pour demander des informations sur les randos à faire dans le Tongario National Park. Malheureusement le temps n'est pas favorable et il n'est pas conseillé d'y aller. Le soleil est apparu en milieu de matinée donc je me suis décidée à aller faire la petite balade que j'avais repéré près de la rivière (2h aller retour). La couleur de l'eau était d'un tel bleue c'était splendide. Après ce petit bol d'air frais je suis allée dans un magasin de miel où j'ai acheté un pot de Maunka, de la region bien sur. C'est un miel qui coûte très cher mais qui est excellent. Une petite pause déjeuner et direction Turangi. Une fois la bas on ... read more

url=http://www.taupodc.govt.nz/our-services/animal-management/dog-exercise-and-restricted-areas/Pages/dog-excercise-and-restricted-areas.aspxhttp://www.taupodc.govt.nz/our-services/animal-management/dog-exercise-and-restricted-areas/Pages/dog-excercise-and-restricted-areas.aspx Taupo has many parks and beaches where you can take your dog for a walk. Or, if you have one that doesn't go completely deaf when it suits them, let them off their lead for a run. My favourite is Secombe Park, at the south end of Taupo. Lovely scenery and an area where you can sit and admire the view. However, like all parks, keep an eye on who else is there with dogs as we had to avoid a LARGE dog whose owner could not control it but still let it off its lead, ready and willing to terrorise our much smaller dogs. And for all the good dog owners who pick up anything their dog leaves behind,... read more

Where is an Englidhman supposed to barbecue? No fires on paid campsites and no fires out in the free ones due to bush fire risks. So, I had to resort to the communal gas fired hot plate. Still, the red wine and goid company made up for it. The kids didn't turn up till late as they were too busy having go kart races with other kids.... read more

The whole area around and under Roturua is volcanic and steam rises from vents dotted all over the countryside. We took a morning trip down to a well known thermal visitor centre to walk among the sulphur vents, fumaroles, bubbling mud pools, bright yellow pools and spouting geysers. The smell of egg mayo sarnies filled the air, but not in an unpleasant way. The visit ended at Lady Knox geyser where we saw it shoot boiling water about 30 foot into the air. We headed back to Roturua for lunch at a lovely cafe that overlooked the lake. This afternoon we all fancy trying our hand at a speedy luge track that snakes it's way down Mount Ngongotaha.... read more