Blogs from Taupo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 65

Advertisement

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo October 31st 2005

We had arrived in Taupo, (city of adventure, according to Lonely Planet), late last night and checked in at Rainbow Lodge. Come the morning, we were eager to see what was on offer, and had heard rhumours about Taupo being one of the cheapest places for outdoors activities, so checked at front desk. Adam wasn't too keen on a bungy, or skydive since he'd done the latter before and the former didn't really appeal, (I'm being nice here and not saying the 'chicken' word at all - Mr Compassion, that's me). Anyway, the girl pointed out a fantasic 4-in-1 offer that was impossible to decline and within seconds we were booked in. Come 12.30 I was standing 47m above Lake Taupo, strapped onto a large, inadequate-looking elastic band, being told "3...2....1...Jump!" You don't really have much ... read more
Dunked
Bungy View
Post-dunking

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo October 23rd 2005

I have spent the last few days in Taupo, a small town that sits on the shores of New Zealand's largest lake, itself contained in a large volcanic crater. This crater is all that remains of a massive eruption which is basically responsible for the whole of the north island of New Zealand. It is a beautiful place, wide open and serene, with the Tongariro mountain range sitting quietly in the background. My enjoyment of the scenery was heightened by the first appearance of the sun in weeks. Little did I know that only days later, the peaceful air would be broken by my own screams, as I hurtled towards the ground at a little over 200kph. I decided to attempt the Tongariro crossing, a 17km trek through stunning mountain landscapes which many claim to be ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo October 19th 2005

Hello again!!! I haven't been able to write in a while because the internet at the hostels has been expensive and busy. Right now I am in the city of Taupo which is situated on the largest lake in New Zealand, lake Taupo, funny how that works. Anyway, things are going really well. Last Friday I jumped on a Kiwi Experience bus. My pass is from Auckland to Christchurch, but the bus is a neat way to get around the country because it does not go on a direct route, it zig-zags all over the place. On Friday we went to Cathederal Cove on the east coast of the country where we were treated to beautiful views of the ocean. We spent the night in a small town called Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga) and stayed at this ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo October 13th 2005

What a difference a day makes. A cold front is moving in and we wake up to rain once again. Hopefully it will clear off tomorrow as we are going to Tongariro National Park this afternoon to try to get in more hiking before we go to Wellington and cross over to the South Island. We walk into town, go to the Redoubt (old fort) area and to the Taupo Museum. We stop for lunch at a seaside café and have a really good, kind of chicken burrito. We grab a few bottles of wine at a specialty wine store to stick in our bags just in case they don’t sell wine in the national park, then go to the transport center. We travel by regular bus to Turangi, then transfer to a small shuttle van ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo October 12th 2005

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG, I’M SORRY THAT IT SENDS YOU AN E-MAIL EVERY TIME I ADD A DAY AND SINCE I CAN ONLY UPDATE EVERY FEW DAYS, YOU GET SEVERAL E-MAILS AT ONE TIME. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO STOP THAT. We get up to start on a day hike by the Waikato River that goes up to Haku Falls. As we walk by Lake Taupo we notice several black swans on the lake, so we stop to take pictures. We stop and buy a sandwich to take with us for lunch later and walk about 2 meters to the trailhead. We hike about one hour up to the falls and it is very impressive. Along the way we see the national kayak course and it looks pretty difficult. As with everything in NZ, ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo October 11th 2005

We get up, get ready and our motel owner takes us to the transport center to catch our bus to Taupo. On the way to Taupo we drive along a huge river that is obviously much higher than usual. The bus driver shows us the hydro-electric dam and other thermal powered electric plants. This river, the Waikato (Way-cat-o), provides 65% of all the power for the North Island and is the longest river in NZ. As we pull into Taupo we notice some big, beautiful homes on a hilltop. It is interesting since most of NZ is architecturally challenged. We go out to check out the town and realize that it is much larger than we expected. We look for an internet café that will allow us to use our laptop, but don’t find one. On ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo September 29th 2005

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok keep your pants on everyone uncle Daves here to tell you about his exciting adventures with Rob the ravenous! Arrived in Taupo to constant rain - but this didnt stop us having a fantastic quad biking trip in the nearby forrest. Due to the weather there was just the two of us for a 3 hour bike! We had 2 guides and at times it got a bit hairy, but once you got in control of the bike you learnt quickly and that the bikes we were on could go up n down near vertical slopes AWESOME. Went through forrest / farmland and offroad terrain! Sore a calf been born along the way along with deer etc. There are no brakes on the bikes so all ... read more
canopy ride
quads
sunset over rheuapehu

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo September 28th 2005

Right so this is what we have done so far............ froze our nuts off in christchurch, mad love with Franz the german, met babs, bus to picton, wobbly boat to wellington, train to ohakune, did the dog with pat the rat, attempted to ski in ohakune (near death experience for laura), table dancing, caravan of death and distruction, hiace to taupo, tent of desire in motor camp, red bra-purple loofa incident, jet boat, prawn farm, and hopefully sky dive tomorrow. ahhhhh... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo September 23rd 2005

Hi there, Just thought would name this blog to get Elinor excited, she will know why, but sorry not that rock. Just spent last two nights in Taupo YHA, again a fab place to stay. Day one we did try and go for a cruise on the lake to see the Maori rock carving but the weather was too bad and so went along to Taupo adventure park and completed a maze, I won but Dave cheated, he followed me honest! To get out of the maze you then have to go down this long tunnel slide which is mostly pitch black so you have no idea where you are going or when the drops and turns are. All good fun. Next we took an off road buggy road a dirt track. Dave being the passenger, ... read more
Maori Rock carvings
Off roader
Dave's mini golf technique

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo September 14th 2005

Have now reached Taupo after spending the the last day and a half in Wellington. Went and visited the Parliament buildings and Te Papa museum yesterday. Both were interesting to see, some very decorative rooms in the Parliament, though no sitting while I was there as preparations are under way for the election this weekend. I wish I'd had more time for Te Papa, it's a huge museum with several interactive rides etc in it too, though the virtual bungy wasn't very convincing. All the maori stuff was cool though, though I barely had enough time to stop and read anything it was a case of looking and moving on. Arrived in Taupo today, and have had a lazy afternoon just chilling out before arriving in Rotorua early tomorrow morning. It's almost over now! :(... read more




Tot: 0.11s; Tpl: 0.005s; cc: 7; qc: 72; dbt: 0.0634s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb