Taupo

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The next day the plan was to travel on to Taupo via Rotorua. After the best night's sleep in months, we headed off quite early on our way. The journey was very scenic; the countryside is fresh, green, and covered in luxuriant vegetation and verdant pasture wash with wild flowers - you can see why it is decribed as like England 50 years ago.The towns are all very well cared for and attractive, with beautiful shrubs and borders of blue agapanthus along the verges. the landscape is made up of rolling hills, some of which are obviously old volcanic plugs, now covered in foliage or grass - as the whole are is of volcanic origin.

Our first stop after a couple of hours was just outside Rotorua, at a place called Rainbow Springs, a reserve dedicated to the preservation of native flora and fauna. We admired the various species of tree ferns and other common trees, emus, geckos, and the rare and elusive kiwi. Back in the carpark, I decided it would be a good idea to check on the name of our hotel at Taupo for that evening - as I couldn't remember it. Panic - shock/horror - the paperwork - containing all the details of accommodation for the trip, airline e-tickets, reservations for booked activities - was nowhere to be found. So - into Rotorua, and various phonecalls eventually elicited the fact that it had been left at the hotel in Auckland. a real pain, as we will now have to make a lengthy detour on Friday to collect it, but at least it's not lost.

All this rather curtailed our time in Rotorua, but we did have a quick look at various sites of geothermal activity - Rotorua being a centre where vents, steam, boiling water and sulphurous fumes are everywhere - and saw the old Maori houses which harness the springs of boiling water for their domestic needs. We also visited the Tourist Centre and made a booking for the following day - as the weather forecast was good, but then deteriorating - for the bus to do the Tongariro Crossing.

This is billed as the best one day walk in NZ, and I first heard of it through Viv's account in her most informative journal after her NZ holiday. It crosses a fantastic volcanic landscape, passing the volcano of Mount Ngauruhoe -Mordor or the Mountain of Doom in Lord of the Rings. I was determined we had to attempt it, even though it is very physical and I was quite worried about being able to manage it. It is a linear walk, for which you have to book transport, which only runs when the weather is fine. So that done, on to Taupo, where we found the hotel, where we were even upgraded to a superior room with stunning vistas across the lake to snow covered volcanic Mount Rupahoe. Then early dinner and bed, as we were catching the early bus at 5.40 a.m. next day!

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Photos

Rotorua
Hot mud pools

Rotorua
Maori church