Lake Wow-po

The last time I left you guys we were just leaving FO PA, our next destination being Lake Taupo. The relatively short drive to the lake was as stunning as ever. We were both amazed at how clear the water was in the great lake and I loved the drive along the lakeshore, not minding the twists and turns. I fell in love with Taupo before we even made it to the town centre. It was such a quaint town and had so many bars, restaurants and cafes overlooking the lake. Definitely a town too, none of this "city" claim. I think I have figured it out over here now. At home, an area is deemed a city due to its population or whether it has a cathedral. Here in NZ it seems that for a place to be a city it needs a Starbucks. No Starbucks? - Town. Even if there are 40 coffee shops, and the Kiwis do take their coffee very seriously, you’re a town. We had a bit of time before we could check into our 5 star, yes – 5 star campsite so we headed out of town to the local area to see the sites.

First stop was Huka Falls. The only river to actually leave Lake Taupo is the Waikato. It’s NZs longest river and holds a shed load of water. The full force of this river heads over Huka Falls. It’s only about a 10-foot drop but the sheer volume of water heading over the falls is immense! It’s Niagara loud! We didn’t stop very long, just to take a few snaps really, as it was very crowded. Something we hadn’t experienced since Auckland. We then headed over to the Craters of the moon geothermal park. A large area which had open sulphur vents spewing eggy steam and bubbling mud pools. It was no Rotorua which is apparently NZ’s premier geothermal area but I had fun constantly accusing Kate of the eggy whiffs.

We then checked into our campsite, got hooked up then walked the short 2km back into town. We passed a bungy jumping centre on the cliff tops and stood and watched a rather large lady take the plunge. It was fairly funny and the cliffs helped well in echoing her chubby screams. We decided there and then that bungy jumping wasn’t for us. It’s not the height or the jumping off headfirst (although I’d prefer to stand and jump) but it’s the recoil and that massive wrench in the stomach. No, we will probably give that one a miss.

When we got to town we instead booked up some more serene activities like Kayaking and a boat cruise out to some Moari carvings hidden in the northern corner of the lake. We stopped for lunch and explored the main drag and the small roads that bisected it. I loved the fact that everything was so central, it was such an easy place to wander around in. We then walked back to our campsite.

This was our first experience of a 5 star campsite but to be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect. Cleaner facilities? More toilets maybe? Or more polite insects in the showers? It turned out that all 5 star really means is that the reception area is very swish and that everything is well lit at night when you’re stumbling off to the toilet at 3am. We were dangerously close to the kids playground and feared we would be distracted by joyful laughs and screams from bastard kids enjoying their holidays but it was fine. We even saw NZs largest jumping pillow! We first encountered these in Wanganui and I couldn’t help put have a bounce on it. They are a cross between a trampoline and a bouncy castle. They rule! If I win the lottery I swear to god I’m getting one. And it’ll eclipse NZs largest.

That night I had to make a call back home. It appears I still owe Honda some money as they lost a cheque I sent them before we came away. It being an 0870 number my mobile refused to let me dial it so with the complimentary phone cards the helpful IEP people gave us in Auckland I headed off into the night to find a phone box. It was very easy to find what with it being a 5 star resort and everything being lit up. The downside of everything being so well lit is that it has a tendency to attract things like moths. When I entered the phone box it was almost like doing a bush tucker trial on ‘I’m a celebrity get me outta here!’ I had never seen so many moths in one place at once. It made the butterfly house at Syon Park look like a deserted NZ beach in winter! Not being squeamish, I got on with the job in hand, managing to realise my phonecard didn’t work before getting it stuck in the phone and losing it forever. DOH! Oh well, plan B then.

The next day we headed back into town for a spot of late breakfast before heading over to the hole in one golf challenge. It was a tiny island with 3 golf holes on and you got a bucket of balls, if you made a hole in one you won 5 grand! I had a go and, considering I hadn’t touched a golf club for 5 months I did alright. I’m not 5 grand richer but I hit the little island a few times and was impressed with my ball striking. We then left to catch our steamboat cruise out to the Moari carvings. The lake was so clear and eerily still but the sun was out and the scenery was, as ever, stunning. We passed small towns with houses perched high on the cliffs overlooking the lake and listened as our guide told us how much some of them were and which celebrities owned them. A really shit looking one was owned by Rod Stewart but he had never actually visited it. I wasn’t at all surprised as it just looked like a stretched greenhouse to me! We got to the carvings which were pretty impressive until the guide spoilt it by saying that the carvings were done by a bunch of stoned Maoris. I thought they were pretty good. I did think at one point I spotted one of the faces with a spliff in the corner of his mouth but it turned out to be a branch from a nearby tree. We headed back after and had a nice long soak in the hot tub at our site which helped soothe many aching bones. The type of aches you can only really get from sleeping in a cramped little van.

We both awoke all very excited the next morning as we were really looking forward to our kayaking trip on the mighty Waikato river. Our enthusiasm was quashed a little when we saw the weather. It was tipping it down and the temperature had easily dropped 10 degrees. We were gonna be getting wet anyway so we ventured off to meet our kayak guide. It looked as though the weather had scared a few punters off as only Kate and myself were there to greet our guide. Pretty cool as it meant we got his full attention. Neither of us had kayaked since we were kids and were a little dubious about heading toward the Huka falls. We got onto our kayaks and slowly let the current take us down river. We didn’t really need to paddle, only to avoid the trees and right ourselves so we were facing the right way. Kate crashed into me incessantly but it didn’t bother me as the water was super clear and the scenery again, stunning. We stopped off at the point where the bungy jump centre was but it appeared that the weather had scared them away too. We then headed a bit further down and stopped at a point where a natural hot spring enters the river. We moored up our kayaks, stripped down to our swimming cozzies and took the plunge. The guide reckoned I should dive into the river off this rock so I duly obliged. I hadn’t realised how fast the river was moving and as I surfaced again I was already 10 feet away from where I entered the river. I made it over to the hot spring area and we sat for a good 20 minutes relaxing. It was a very weird feeling though as you were constantly buffeted with waves of both icy cold and steaming hot water. The guide said he called it schizophrenic water. We then jumped in our kayaks again just as the heavens truly opened. Proper tropical rain. We made it to the point of no return and managed to moor up with no problems even though the guide kept telling us that if we fucked up we were basically dead as the Huka falls were just a bit further downstream. I think he was joking. We survived though and the shower back at our site was super appreciated.

We left Taupo the next morning. We had originally been keen to sky dive but what with our financial situation and not knowing where all our money seems to be going we decided to put it on hold until we are back in the north island at the end of the year. Taupo is the cheapest place to sky dive and it’s over some stunning scenery but we are gonna be patient. We haven’t bottled it, yet.

Kate drove the next leg to Palmerston North. A city for sure as it had a Starbucks. Palmerston North hasn’t really got anything of note to talk about except that we saw more ducks in the tiny pond in the park then we saw on the whole of Lake Taupo. Palmerston North was only really a stopover to break up the long journey to Wellington and where I sit as I type this.

We plan to stay here for around 5 days before catching the ferry over to the south (and some say better) island. Shit, if the scenery over there is any better, then I think my eyes will explode! Chat soon.

Peace

D

xxxx