Blogs from Taupo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 6

Just had some nice hot water shower:)... read more

After leaving Hobbiton and the town of Matamata, we had a drive of just over an hour to get to Taupo, where we were able to check in straight away into our room at the Tiki Lodge Backpackers. The room was basic but was pretty spacious, clean and had a nice big ensuite – a little nicer than some of the backpackers that we had stayed at in Australia, and the last backpackers we would be staying at for the rest of our trip! One we had dropped off our stuff and had a look around the hostel, we made a trip to the nearest supermarket to stock up on some food for the next three nights that we were spending there, then cooked and ate dinner before spending the night browsing the internet and looking ... read more

Early but leisurely start to the day. After breakfast Dave and I rented some mountain bikes and headed off to see what Taupo had to offer! We first headed up and rather (meaning very!) undulating dirt track to Huka falls, where 10,000 cubic metres of water falls a second! The waterfall isn’t very high but very powerful. From the falls we head up to the crators of the moon. We had no idea what to find here, but very pleasantly surprised. It’s a large geothermal area, with smoke rising from natural vents in the ground up all around you and bubbling mud pools. We spent over an hour wandering round and then stopped to have some lunch before hitting the mountain bike trails! With over 50 trails marked through trails through the forest it was hard ... read more

The route between Wellington and Taupo is much like a who’s who of mesmerising landscapes… AND PERIL, in the form of endless “Danger” signs that herald imminent death by fire: img=https://41.media.tumblr.com/9d0e522dc12f9052ea11f3ef29225382/tumblr_inline_nre5ntEB2S1qgew24_540.jpg Not that these bother New Zealanders. You can’t bother a nation that endures 11,000 earthquakes a year and runs the risk of falling into the sea, they’re too busy perfecting their scrums and inventing new ciders. Kiwi friend even lovingly pointed out the MASSIVE fault-line in the earth that runs alongside her house: “BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF IT SUDDENLY OPENS AND WE ALL JUST TIP INSIDE!?” had been my sensitive British reaction. And she’d given me the casual Kiwi meh-I-guess-Peter-Jackson-will-make-a-film-about-us shrug. DON’T ask for earthquake advice from a Kiwi. It’s so ingrained in their psyche that ... read more

I was still stuffed from the feast the night before so I skipped breakfast and hoped to burn some of it off on our morning walk. We headed to Te Puia gate to see some more Maori culture, thermal geysers and finally a pair of Kiwis! The geysers were huge, steam pours out all day long - a bit like a whale's spout. Kiwi's are nocturnal and highly endangered so there are small breeding centres throughout New Zealand. The chance of seeing one in the wild is really slim so we were pleased to see this happy pair of kiwis saving their species. We then got on the road to our next stop, Lake Taupo. We had a relaxing afternoon, with a casual 12,000ft skydive above the lake! It was a fantastic experience and was much ... read more