Blogs from Taupo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 50

I left Taupo feeling very happy and headed North for Tauranga to try and link up with the people I had met in Dunedin. Murphy’s law then came into play .I headed north for Tokora no problem then having driven 10,000 klms in Australia and 2500 klms in the South Island I took a wrong turning and ended in a National Park with no signs and found out later I was heading South instead of North ,ending up completely lost no idea where I was until Turangi came up .Turangi is at the extreme south of lake Taupo I had gone 150klms completely in the wrong direction .So 3 hours later I was back where I started in Taupo !!! I was gob smacked, as I still had a 3 hour trip to go to ... read more

Oikein hyvaa Ystavanpaivaa kaikille! Wellington, missa vietettiin vain yksi kokonainen paiva, jai taakse eilen ja nyt ollaan Taupo nimisessa paikassa. Wellington jatkoi "pienempi kuin odotin" sarjassa, olemalla hyvinkin viihtyisan oloinen kaupunki. Meidan aika vierahti Te Papa museossa, joka on siis Uuden Seelannin kansallismuseo. Oikein kiintoisa paikka - yksi parhaista museoista, missa olen koskaan kaynyt. Wellingtonista tultiin sitten tanne Taupoon - tai Taupolle. Taupo on meinaan jarvi - tarkemmin ottaen kaldera - tulivuoren kraateri joka on veden tayttama. Taupon toisella puolella nakyy lumihuippuisia vuoria. Ihan kivat maisemat taallakin. Tanaan kaytiin ystavanpaivakavelylla Huka-putouksilla, jotka eivat niinkaan tehneet vaikutusta korkeudellaan (vahan yli 20 metria) kuin virtaavan veden maaralla (250 000 kuutiometria sekunnissa). Vesi joessa ja putouksissa on aivan uskom... read more

North of Taupo, bang in the middle of North Island, is a geothermal area known as Orakei Korako. Boiling mudpools, mineral-rich hot springs and dazzling, technicolour mineral displays abound. Nearby, Butcher's Pool is a natural hot pool ideal for a dip - if you can stand the heat and are not too worried about catching amoebic meningitis! Our very last evening in New Zealand is spent in Raglan, a small surfing community only a couple of hours away from the hustle and bustle of Auckland. We spend the night in a converted railway carriage before making our way to the airport - and a long, long trans-Pacific flight to California. The last leg of this epic journey begins. New Zealand will remain etched in our memories for ever - it won't be long before we're back. ... read more

Spent a day in Taupo relaxing. We walked down to the lake in the morning and then walked to Huka Falls in the afternoon. This is about a 2 hr walk although it took us nearly an hour to reach the start point from the hostel. Worth it though and topped up my tan!... read more

Taupo is only a short drive from Rotorua but we stopped a couple of times along the way, firstly at Waiotapu, where there is a great geyser (Lady Knox Geyser) that erupts once a day with a little assistance from some soap suds poured down the hole on top. We also discovered Kerosene lake which is the best hot spring and some amazing mud pools that were accessed for free and surpassed anything we had previously paid for. The rest of thermal park was pretty good as well, took a few hours to walk around but was well worth the effort. Next stop was Orakei Koraka which was rated highly by Lonely Planet, why I dont know, it was expensive and not as good as what we had seen earlier in the day, still it was ... read more