Saturday 16th Taupo & Sunday 17th Blue Lake, Rotorua
After a very comfortable night's sleep and duly refreshed after a shower and breakfast, we had a walk with our fab hosts around a local dog friendly park. We then had an orientation drive before sadly leaving at 10.45. It is strange how people drop in and out of your life, we had not seen one another for a few years and after a very welcoming stay of less than 24 hours we were off, not knowing when we would see them again. Friends and acquaintances seem more important when you get older.
We had a very pleasant drive as we headed to our next stop, Lake Taupo arriving here around 3.00pm. We headed out on the Napier - Taupo Road and came across Waipunga Falls.
https://world-of-waterfalls.com/waterfalls/new-zealand-waipunga-fallsas manicuring his beard.
Along the way we passed a Maori Cemetery or Graveyard. This was set into a hillside. As far as I can ascertain, Maori buried people of high status close to settlements and then disinherited the bones to place them in secret locations. (Or, the higher up the hillside the greater the importance ?).
We checked into Taupo DeBretts, pitched up (getting the terminology now!), and sat by the pools. We ate outside and then wandered up to The Hilton for a drink on the terrace to watch the beautiful sun setting. Another one night stay and the alarm woke us at 7.30am the shower and toilet block were "mixed" and it was funny to be having a wash and cleaning my teeth as a chap at the next hand basin was manicuring his beard!!
We left the site at 9.30 and headed down to Lake Taupo, once we had parked up a passing family asked if they could have a look inside the camper-van with a view to hiring one. Must by now look like professionals ;) We drove on to Huka Falls where you can see the phenomenon of natural hydro power. It is here that the Waikato River, NZ's longest river moves North from Lake Taupo between banks 100mtrs apart. Nearly a quarter of a million litres of water per second falls from the gorge and into the river 11 metres below. We took a walk on one of the scenic trails which stated that the cafe was only 1km along the footpath. The few people that we passed all commented how wrong this was and by our reckoning it was more like 2.5kms!! Eventually arriving at the roadside cafe and a welcome cuppa, we were more than surprised to see a pleasure helicopter "parked" up to the rear. So, before we could change our minds we booked an impulsive ride - out over Lake Taupo & the dam and prawn farm for a very informative trip. On our return we had a snack and before we headed off to the nearby Wai-O-Tapu thermal springs we got chatting to two lady volunteer rubbish collectors. These delightful ladies just "took it upon themselves" to cycle around the district and collect rubbish - a pure act of civic pride. They called themselves The Two Tossers and informed us that over the previous 22 months they had collected 450Kgs.
After spending time at this natural fascinating place we went onward to our next overnight stay, Blue Lake Resort, a beautiful location, situated on the edge of the Lake's clear waters and at the heart of Rotorua's lake district.
We had a very pleasant drive as we headed to our next stop, Lake Taupo arriving here around 3.00pm. We headed out on the Napier - Taupo Road and came across Waipunga Falls.
https://world-of-waterfalls.com/waterfalls/new-zealand-waipunga-fallsas manicuring his beard.
Along the way we passed a Maori Cemetery or Graveyard. This was set into a hillside. As far as I can ascertain, Maori buried people of high status close to settlements and then disinherited the bones to place them in secret locations. (Or, the higher up the hillside the greater the importance ?).
We checked into Taupo DeBretts, pitched up (getting the terminology now!), and sat by the pools. We ate outside and then wandered up to The Hilton for a drink on the terrace to watch the beautiful sun setting. Another one night stay and the alarm woke us at 7.30am the shower and toilet block were "mixed" and it was funny to be having a wash and cleaning my teeth as a chap at the next hand basin was manicuring his beard!!
We left the site at 9.30 and headed down to Lake Taupo, once we had parked up a passing family asked if they could have a look inside the camper-van with a view to hiring one. Must by now look like professionals ;) We drove on to Huka Falls where you can see the phenomenon of natural hydro power. It is here that the Waikato River, NZ's longest river moves North from Lake Taupo between banks 100mtrs apart. Nearly a quarter of a million litres of water per second falls from the gorge and into the river 11 metres below. We took a walk on one of the scenic trails which stated that the cafe was only 1km along the footpath. The few people that we passed all commented how wrong this was and by our reckoning it was more like 2.5kms!! Eventually arriving at the roadside cafe and a welcome cuppa, we were more than surprised to see a pleasure helicopter "parked" up to the rear. So, before we could change our minds we booked an impulsive ride - out over Lake Taupo & the dam and prawn farm for a very informative trip. On our return we had a snack and before we headed off to the nearby Wai-O-Tapu thermal springs we got chatting to two lady volunteer rubbish collectors. These delightful ladies just "took it upon themselves" to cycle around the district and collect rubbish - a pure act of civic pride. They called themselves The Two Tossers and informed us that over the previous 22 months they had collected 450Kgs.
We moved on to the Thermal Springs, a short drive away, the landscape is quite something and has been sculpted by geothermal activity. We walked around the odorous waters of the Champagne Pool that bubbles mud and steaming ground which had a temperature of 100 deg Centigrade. It is a very surreal place. The colours of the rock/sediment is determined by the layers of minerals; carbon and arsenic to name but two. A fascinating place.
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