Taupō, Waikato, New ZealandTaupo
a waterfall along the road
the plan was to drive south – over Taumarunui and Turangi,
so we may can see the volcanoes. AS planned we headed south – it will be a long
drive but we only have a few viewpoints on the plan and should arrive fairly
early. It is cloudy today – which makes driving is very pleasant. .As we drove
along the road we suddenly came across a sign saying 400 m waterfall on the
right: we said ok, we stop and if it is not too far to walk we go there: that
is funny, the Madonna falls were like 0m to walk: all we did was crossing the
road to see those two cool little waterfalls – what a nice surprise.
a viewpoint in the rain: Te Peka
we continue on to Taumarunui and drive up to the Te Peka
lookout: which is at the end of the road in the middle of a neighbor hood where
they made a nice viewing platform. It did start to drizzle a bit and the view
was cloudy and rainy, that means super short stop. When driving through this
little town it is like we are stepping back a hundred years – lots of old
buildings and not a lot of people – nearly like a ghost town.
SH 1 is closed from 0900 – 0230
When Gine put in the location for our trip Google said SH 1
is closed, ok let’s go on the NZ government webpage and check it out and see
there SH1 along Lake Taupo requires repair and because the stretch is so narrow
they close the highway every day from 0900 until 0230, what a bummer – no we
either spend enough time before that we can drive up around 2.30 but then still
likely wait as it is one way traffic only or we detour, which we did (guess we
are not looking at the volcanoes) and if we would known that earlier we would
have driven a different route – as now we do some extra driving (aren’t we
always smarter afterwards)
A cool Viewpoint for the Volcanoes: Waituhi Scenic
lookout
As we drive along, we see a sign “lookout”: we turn off and
a super narrow road goes through the jungle until we finally end up at a little
parking lot with a viewing platform – where we climb up to (yes it drizzles
again and there is a cold wind). When you don’t have clouds you can see all
three snow covered volcanoes from here – we used some good imagination and I
think we could see the one of them.
What is it about those 3 volcanoes????
- Here they have 3 big volcanoes: Ruapehu – Ngauruhoe and Tongariro – the Moari believed that the mountains were strong warriors who fought each other
- Mt Ruapehu: is the giant of the group with 2797m and is the tallest mountain of the North Island. It is also the most active of those three, a yearlong eruption started in March 1945 spreading lava over the crater lake and sending ashes as far as Wellington, on Christmas eve 1953 the crater lake erupted and a huge mudflow swept away a train bridge, the train plunged into the river and 151 people were killed. Again, the mountain erupted in 1969, 1973, 1995/96 and in 2007 a teacher got nearly killed when a rock exploding out of it
- Mt Tongariro: is the lowest of the trio and in 2012 a crater was spitting ashes and rocks kilometers into the sky - one of them going through one of the huts
- Mr Nagauruhoa has a classical conical shape and is the youngest volcano, it erupted first 2500 years ago and until 1975 erupted every 9 years, in 1954 it had an 11 months long eruption, disgorging 6 Mill cubic meter of lava, the steam vents have cooled and the main vent is likely blocked
Approaching Taupo
We continue our drive and as we approach Taupo we have first
glimpses on the lake, we can smell some sulphur in the air and Gine can see
some fumes coming out of a lake and out of the forest – super cool, now we are
getting excited. There are two ways to drive to our Airbnb and we decided to
drive the nice scenic drive along the way – which makes us super excited to be
here for another day in this beautiful place.
A narrow driveway
Our Air bnb is at the end of a long narrow driveway, this is
the 2nd time we encounter this and we really wonder who comes on
such a stupid idea making so narrow long driveways where you nearly can’t turn
around at the end…. Super weird. After searching and finding our lockbox – we
made coffee and relax a bit, as the weather is a bit cool and not that great
(the original plan was to go to the beach)
A Walk along the lake
We drove down to a parking lot along the lake and enjoyed
the nice views – yes we are at NZ’s largest lake and we can still see the other
side. We did walk along and came to the sign Taharepa Baths and the sign saying
“Danger – scolding your feet from the hot water is possible”, first we didn’t
totally got where the hot water is, looking in the wrong spot, after walking
along and enjoying some super nice views, finding some super cool rocks and
seeing black swans we came back and this time we found the “hot pools” and yes
the water is very hot and smells a tiny bit, we could see the stream where it
comes out of the ground – guess we are in some active volcanic spot.
This is such a beautiful spot – perfect for a nice walk
along the beach
The Black Swan (Kakianau)
- There are 7 different swans in the world and only two black ones the South American black-necked swan and the Australian Black swan
- The First European to see a Black swan was a Dutch sailor in 1635 – but many Europeans didn’t believe him
- NZ originally had a different species of Swan which got hunted to extinction and the Australian Black swan was introduced to NZ in the 1860s – they are also arriving naturally from Australia and could therefore considered a native bird
- Most of them are on coastal lakes and lagoons on the South Island as well as in Waikato and Rotorua. There are around 60.000 of them in NZ
- They are very aggressive when defending their territories and their nests, only 1 in 5 nest in any year
We like PaknSave
We need to go shopping to stock up on a few things and found
a PaknSave – this is the first time we go in one, this is one huge supermarket
where you can get everything and most of it for cheap, and as we are looking
around we did find some ready made meals for a microwave – which would be
perfect for our Airbnb but we were not so sure if they are good, as we are talking
a lady comes and said they are all really good “I always by them for my Mom” and
she told us which are her favorites, another lady told us the same thing: as
they are fairly cheap like 6 NZ for one meal – we get two (and they were actually
are very good).
Taupo - The Town at the Lake:
- Lake Taupo is fed by the ice melted from the mountains of the Tongarinro NP
- It is NZ’s largest lake and it sits in the caldera of a volcan that erupted around 300.000 years ago and was formed by a collapse during the Oruanui super eruption 26.500 years ago (wow that was one big volcano – when we look at the size of the lake – this is also the worlds largest known eruption in the last 70.000 years): even the Chinese and roman writers reported about it when they talked about the unusual red sunsets. When it happened, it covered all of NZ in ashes, at some places up to 10 m deep and the smoke reached 50 km into the sky – everything living was destroyed
- When you look at the lake and the mountains it looks serene but in the last 27.000 years the crater has erupted 28 times and the last one was 1800 years ago – with all the hot springs it looks like the volcano has still not run out of steam: there is the underwater horomatangi vent – as well as the nearby geothermal fields: as this is an active volcano it gets monitored
- The Europeans started to settle here during the East Coast Land war from 1868-72 – when they had here a strategic military base
- Today the level of the lake is controlled by 8 dams along the Waikato River, the gates got built in 1940/41 to reduce flooding and conserve water
Don’t be late:
Gine said this morning we are on a timeline: as the they
only release the water 3 times a day for 15 Min and we want to be there for the
10 o’clock-water-release and it is a 15 Min drive and internet says to be 10
Min earlier. As we get ready to leave, we meet Tamara (who was born in Germany)
and her husband, they are super nice. And then we head out – we are ahead of
schedule.
The Huka falls
We stop at the Huka falls: at the moment we are not sure
where we need to be, there is lots of parking and the sun is out – and we stand
and admire those raging waters going through the gorge – wow!!! That is a lot
of water, they have a nice walkway along with several more viewpoints and at
the end a little waterfall – which looks dramatic because of the amount of
water. It is fascinating on how calm the water is above and below the falls.
- Around 200.000 litres of water plunge 9 m down per second!!! You could fill 9 Olympic size swimming pool every minute
- The tumbling of the water picks up a lot of bubbles creating a unique color and it also gives the fall its name, as huka is maori and means foam
- The flow is so strong that there is no upstream migration of trout and eel, that means you can’t find eels in Lake Taupo
The Aratiatia rapids for 15 Min
Time to head on, we are so on schedule as per google we will
arrive at the parking lot at 9.57 – and as we park, we hear the sirens
indicating that it starts to flow. We go out and quickly go over to the Dam –
as we arrived, there is still no water underneath and the Dam opens up. How super
amazing, the empty bed fills slowly with water and suddenly a lake forms, the
level goes up and up and we can see how it streams through the narrows in front
of us – that is so super cool. As we look down suddenly all churns and there
are no more rocks to see and then it plunges over the rocks down the gorge.
Paul went back to the car to get our magic marker and that is when we discover
there is a 5 Min walk to a viewing platform – so in high speed we walk there
and can see how the water plunges through the gorge and then also how the water
level goes down and it slows down – that is truly spectacular. Once back we
walked back on the bridge – now empty below us, we saw how the water all
vanished – if we wouldn’t seen it, we wouldn’t believe it.
- The Aratiatia rapids are part of the Waikoto Hydro system, the Dam opens 1200 times a year for tourism purpose: during tourism spill they release 65.000 liters per sec and during operational flows they run up to 300.ooo liters per sec
- The Hydro station is after the Lake and Aratiatia is a station to control Lake Ohakuri
- It is one of nine other hydro dams, they started building it in 1959 and in 1964 it was ready to use, the Hydro station is away from view – so it won’t disturb this unique landscape – and since they started to built it they always released several times a day water the recreate the original rapids
The Lava Glass
As we drive along, we see a sign Lava glass and stop (there
are a lot of things we discover when driving by) to go inside, and we are blown
away– this is so super cool, they give the styles different names some very New
Zealand like Huka Falls, Tongariro, Estuary, Wonderful Wai, Taupo Tussock,
Steamy landscape, over rolling hills but also winter, glacier – super amazing
where the Ebb and flow… they are truly super amazing. There is one downside:
they are super pricy – as we decided a few thousand dollars is above our
paygrade. So we look only.
A helicopter in
the rain
We saw on the way a funky painted helicopter and stopped, as
we go out it started to drizzle and then when it got worse, Gine thought I’m
going back in the car, nearly wet and see there: Paul is already sitting in the
car. By the way at the moment the sky is dark and grey, we wait a few minutes
and see there, the rain stops and the blue sky comes back out – time to take a
picture (yes that is weird NZ-weather)
Here we can also see the pipes bringing the hot steam in
huge pipes – and yes in the background you can see the steam venting out of the
ground.
Lots of tourists at the Huka falls
we decided as the sky is so grey at the moment we are not
paying for a walk (to see steam in the rain) as it is not fun to walk in the
rain and we will not enjoy it, so we head back to the Huka falls to have
another view at them and couldn’t believe our eyes – the whole bridge was full
of people, it was nearly impossible to even find a spot to look at the waters…
guess we came at the right time earlier, with no people and sunshine.
Our next stop was a scenic lookout – with views down on Lake
Taupo.
Pouring rain at Taupo lake front
We headed to town – first we thought we go back to our
Airbnb as the sky is grey and it rained again – but then as we approached 5 Min
later the town the sun comes out – heading downtown to park along the lake let’s
go for a walk and enjoy the scenery.
Stop # 1 is McDonalds: yes, this is an important stop when
you are in Taupo, because they have an old airplane and put seats inside and
you can sit down inside the plane: it is a Douglas DC-3, built in 1943,
McDonalds bought the old plane in 1990 and it became part of their new
restaurant in Taupo. Sure, we walked inside looked in the old cockpit, Paul was
even sitting down in the narrow seats (but sorry, we didn’t eat here)
We walked along the waterfront (they have a super nice
wooden fence along the whole walkway, came by a super nice Maori Waharoa
(gateway) from 1927 symbolizing descendants of Rotorua and Taupo as those two
tribes united.
We discovered one thing: there is one restaurant and coffee
shop after the next one – you want to eat out with lake view – no problem.
And as we were at the Love Taupo sign, it started to
drizzle, we said, let’s turn around, then it started to rain with wind and then
it started to pour, within seconds we were soaked!!! All we could see was grey
over the lake and yes, we are so far away from the car, that we were fully
soaked once we arrived and had to towel ourselves dry.
Time for a coffee
Time to head back and get warm with a cup of coffee – before
we went shopping to get some crackers and supper and then as we arrived at our
place we look out onto blue sky and sunshine!!!! Really!!!! We have coffee and
see there good thing we didn’t go outside as the sky got dark and it was
pouring down rain!!! Yes again – soon after the sun came out and yes soon after
it rained again.
Exploring the waterfront & Marina of Taupo
After it looked like that it will be sunny for a bit, we
decided to drive down to the lake again and always only walk a bit away from
the car, in case it starts to rain. First stop along the lake to a viewpoint –
yes the sun is out, but it is so windy it nearly blows us away… Paul said no
more lake front after this. We headed towards the Marina and checked out the
boats here and more black swans – that is when we heard some loud music.
We headed towards it and discovered that today is a free
concert, we park and listen to it for a bit, before deciding to head on.
Another stop with view down on the Marina and we can already see the black (not
grey) sky. As we park downtown, we sit in the car because it is pouring down
rain!!! Like someone pours out a bucket – by now we are aware and see there a
bit later it stops and we can walk through the downtown area where one cute
little shop is near the next one. (This is really a tourist spot!!! – except today)
Time to head back
We decided that is enough Taupo exploring , time to go back
for a late coffee where sometimes we sit in full sun behind the glass (it is
way to windy to go outside) then it gets grey and pours down only to be 5 Min
later being sunny again – I think we had that cycle at least another five times
before supper – what a weird weather. Let’s hope the weather forecast is
correct and it will be sunny tomorrow – as we still have to explore some of the
cool things around here.
We can see the Volcanoes
After a night where we could hear the wind blowing around,
we are surprised and nearly couldn’t believe it, but yes this morning it was
totally wind free and blue sky – no cloud in the sky. As we head outside, we
get greeted by a cat – and it is not a normal cat, she blows our mind as she
has the coloring of a leopard – when we look it up on the internet, we discover
it is a Bengal cat.
First down to the lake: and it is so pretty we could see the
snow-capped volcanoes in the background behind the lake (guess we are lucky
they have snow as it was pretty cold yesterday and it snowed!!!). Truly amazing
– a perfect start for the day.
2025-05-23