Taupo - The Best Day
Today has been excellent – with probably my favourite experience
in New Zealand (and probably one of the coolest things I have ever done in my
life).
The morning started off with a chai and some scones (I was feeling Colonial, I suppose). The scones turned out to be more along the lines of soft biscuits topped with some powdered sugar, but they were decent with the homemade strawberry jam. From there, we made our way up the street where it turned at the marina to the information center and decided on booking a sail around Lake Taupo. We walked the block back to the car and headed up the hill out of Taupo to check out the natural surroundings before our nautical experience at 2:00.
We started at Huka Falls – a narrow, very long rock passage which funnels water out of Lake Taupo at incredible speeds and volume. While there are no big drops, the power is impressive, and we got some great views as we wandered around the park a bit and cross the falls on the bridge. We even got to see two boats go, engines full blast, up against the Falls.
From the Falls, we drove 2km or so more from the city to go to “Craters of the Moon” – a silly name for a really cool geothermal zone. We walked around the site (on a prescribed path – the land tends to be a bit dangerous with boiling geysers and all) and saw craters, boiling mud craters, geysers which whistled with pressure, and got to look out over the scene after a hard climb up through a lush, tropical landscape. We finished around 12:30 and made the drive back into the city to our hotel to get ready for our sail boat trip.
We met at the dock and got onboard the 1926 sailboat to settle in for the journey. While the boat sometimes carries 26 at busy times, there were only five of us, so each got a massive bean bag chair looking out into the water. Before setting sail, we all got massive, warm, waterproof ponchos – they would come in handy later. Getting out of the bay that the marina was in was smooth sailing, but as we made our way out we hit a bit of chop. The captain said that we were in for a special treat; since there were only five of us, we had the chance to “turn the corner” out into the open water of Lake Taupo (larger than Singapore – 625km2) and hit some large swells from the strong winds. The 44’ sailboat took us on quite a ride on 1.5m waters, and we all got a bit wet (though thanks to the ponchos it was no big deal). Out along the lakeshore we got to see some large Maori carvings in the rock cliffs. We couldn’t get too close due to the waves and wind.
After our splashing about in the open water, we headed to a sheltered cove for a bit of a snack. The captain, a loquacious, convivial Kiwi, threw some sausages on the barbie – his words, not mine – and we soaked in the wildlife and views from Acacia Bay as the late afternoon set in. After our snack it was time for the short trip back to port. We made it back on land at 4:30. The trip let us get some spectacular views and experiences, and I have to say, the sailing was probably my favourite part of the trip so far, and might make it on the list of top coolest things I have ever done.
We returned to the hotel after the trip and lounged around before going to grab some dinner. We settled on an Indian place on the lakefront (turned out every restaurant we ate at in Taupo was within a block of each other). We got to sit on the second floor looking out toward the Lake – a fitting place for our last night in town. The food was good, and as we watched the strong winds bring huge waves in and make light poles swing violently, we were glad we were not out on the water in a sail boat!
In continuation of my series Nonchalant Racism on the Part of Kiwis, here’s a quote from the nightly news: “That was a lot calmer than I would expect from a Russian.”
The morning started off with a chai and some scones (I was feeling Colonial, I suppose). The scones turned out to be more along the lines of soft biscuits topped with some powdered sugar, but they were decent with the homemade strawberry jam. From there, we made our way up the street where it turned at the marina to the information center and decided on booking a sail around Lake Taupo. We walked the block back to the car and headed up the hill out of Taupo to check out the natural surroundings before our nautical experience at 2:00.
We started at Huka Falls – a narrow, very long rock passage which funnels water out of Lake Taupo at incredible speeds and volume. While there are no big drops, the power is impressive, and we got some great views as we wandered around the park a bit and cross the falls on the bridge. We even got to see two boats go, engines full blast, up against the Falls.
From the Falls, we drove 2km or so more from the city to go to “Craters of the Moon” – a silly name for a really cool geothermal zone. We walked around the site (on a prescribed path – the land tends to be a bit dangerous with boiling geysers and all) and saw craters, boiling mud craters, geysers which whistled with pressure, and got to look out over the scene after a hard climb up through a lush, tropical landscape. We finished around 12:30 and made the drive back into the city to our hotel to get ready for our sail boat trip.
We met at the dock and got onboard the 1926 sailboat to settle in for the journey. While the boat sometimes carries 26 at busy times, there were only five of us, so each got a massive bean bag chair looking out into the water. Before setting sail, we all got massive, warm, waterproof ponchos – they would come in handy later. Getting out of the bay that the marina was in was smooth sailing, but as we made our way out we hit a bit of chop. The captain said that we were in for a special treat; since there were only five of us, we had the chance to “turn the corner” out into the open water of Lake Taupo (larger than Singapore – 625km2) and hit some large swells from the strong winds. The 44’ sailboat took us on quite a ride on 1.5m waters, and we all got a bit wet (though thanks to the ponchos it was no big deal). Out along the lakeshore we got to see some large Maori carvings in the rock cliffs. We couldn’t get too close due to the waves and wind.
After our splashing about in the open water, we headed to a sheltered cove for a bit of a snack. The captain, a loquacious, convivial Kiwi, threw some sausages on the barbie – his words, not mine – and we soaked in the wildlife and views from Acacia Bay as the late afternoon set in. After our snack it was time for the short trip back to port. We made it back on land at 4:30. The trip let us get some spectacular views and experiences, and I have to say, the sailing was probably my favourite part of the trip so far, and might make it on the list of top coolest things I have ever done.
We returned to the hotel after the trip and lounged around before going to grab some dinner. We settled on an Indian place on the lakefront (turned out every restaurant we ate at in Taupo was within a block of each other). We got to sit on the second floor looking out toward the Lake – a fitting place for our last night in town. The food was good, and as we watched the strong winds bring huge waves in and make light poles swing violently, we were glad we were not out on the water in a sail boat!
In continuation of my series Nonchalant Racism on the Part of Kiwis, here’s a quote from the nightly news: “That was a lot calmer than I would expect from a Russian.”
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