The bluest water–everywhere.
Jan. 7, 2024, Taupo, New Zealand (North Island)
Epic day today! I went out early to walk a mile to the nearest market get eggs and bread since we’ve got a tiny kitchen and I could cook for maybe the only time on the trip. It was cool, 56 degrees, which felt nice. En route (walking along the lake) I came across an outdoor food and crafts market getting set up. Despite having no room in my suitcase I bought a small owl sculpture made of scrap metal and a painting of birds on a delicate piece of thin porcelain that is probably the worst thing possible to buy given all jostling of the upcoming travel – but it was the perfect gift for my mom. (Note from future me: It survived.)
I also got fresh homemade cinnamon buns from a food truck–right out of the pan. The small supermarket, a few blocks away, looked depressingly like a gas station market from the outside but was well-stocked and I got eggs and snacks.
Lake Taupo, Taupo volcano in the distance. It’s active.
I took a quick dip in our hot tub before breakfast. It was the perfect temperature and I gather it’s hot springs water and not chlorinated, as it was a cement pool with no complicated plumbing. The fully-enclosed outdoor shed isn’t the nicest place to spend time. Concrete block walls and plastic ceiling…I wish they’d left the roof open to the sky, especially for stargazing.
First adventure was getting a cab to Wairakei hot springs. Though this is a decent-sized town there are few cabs and according to the woman that picked us up from the bus stop, only three Uber drivers. We got a recommendation from the hotel owner, called a taxi, and waited 20 minutes. Eh, it’s all good sitting outside staring at the lake. We are in full vacation mode and in no big hurry.
The hot springs were only a few miles out of town, right next to a geothermal power plant (just like the Blue Lagoon in Iceland). While the small, milky-blue pools surrounded by nature were enjoyable, they didn’t live up to the hype. The hype being the one photo I saw in my guide book.
In real life it was like floating around in a milky swimming pool with not enough shade and many opportunities to break a toe. The four pools, each warmer than the next, had multiple entry points with slippery cement stairs descending into the water, but you couldn’t see the stairs (which ranged in width from one to three feet and were different heights) because the water was milky. Everyone was suffering and guests were yelling out warnings to their friends. “No, no, there’s one more – you aren’t all the way down yet.” I began to walk in a sideways shuffle to protect my toes. The stairs were everywhere.
After while it wasn’t that relaxing to sit in a hot pool in the hot sun in the middle of the day with nothing much to look at except other tourists so we agreed to move on.
In the changing room, a princess was taking her sweet time in THE ONLY SHOWER while a polite woman and I waited. Eventually I yelled to the person, “Is there only one shower in there?” The flustered woman/princess replied, “I’m just rinsing my hair. I didn’t realize anyone was waiting.” Really? It’s a freaking hot springs with 100 people and this is the only shower. Sigh. Shame on the venue for only one shower.
By some miracle we got an Uber from the hot springs to Huka Falls in under 15 minutes. The falls are more of a cascade or rapids: it’s a narrowing of a river that creates a beautiful blue tangle of water.
The bridge over the river was both a boon and an eyesore, as yes it allowed me to take nice photos but also ruined the natural feeling.
We wandered down a path to look for views of the river before the falls and I discovered the trail we were on led back to town–a mere 49-minute walk along the river. R. doesn’t love hiking but this seemed totally doable.
The walk was beautiful and amazing and one of the highlights of the trip. I was beside myself with happiness, though I did get tired and hot and we ran out of water. I was IN New Zealand. All the way in! Unusual trees and foliage. Exotic birds. Tiny waterfalls. No insects. The trail was near the Waikato river but rose and fell, alternating between tall trees and ferns and tantalizing river views. R was not happy when it turned out the hike wasn’t 49 minutes but more like 100, but he was a good sport and acknowledged that it was worth it.
We exited the trail as soon as we could at Otumkeke thermal park, closest place to a road, and called an Uber back to town. We had a very late lunch at a really good Indian Nepalese place. Not because we were starving. It was good. We had lamb momos because, New Zealand.
We walked the mile back to the motel despite being tired because it was very beautiful walking along the lake and the lakeshore was full of happy people laughing and swimming and doing summer things.
We relaxed on the front porch of our hotel room (aka the walkway in front of the parking lot) and watched the sun set. It was even more amazing tonight, and I ran across the dangerous road to get lakeside photos. Such a great day and a great night.
Heading south on the north island
Jan. 6, 2024, Auckland to Taupo.
My mosquito bites are mostly healed! Yay! The mosquitos on Moorea and Tahiti were those tiny nasty ones you can barely see and after a week living mostly outdoors, my legs were pretty eaten up.
I headed to a bakery to get us breakfast but of course it was closed for the holiday. Checkout time from the hotel was early at 10 a.m. (We ran into this a lot in New Zealand. 10 a.m.? What the heck!), so we packed up and headed to the bus station. We’d decided to take buses and trains around the country as we didn’t feel comfortable driving on the other side of the road. I was 100% sure in a stressful situation my muscle memory would take over and I’d turn the wrong way and kill someone. Our bus wasn’t until 12:30, so we figured we’d get something to eat and mill around. We had a good deli lunch underneath the Sky Tower, watching people fake bungee jump. The Sky Tower is a Space Needle-esque structure that I never got a great photo of. The fake part of the bungee jumping was that the people were lowered down between two metal cables in a rapid but controlled way. I went for a walk afterwards but got caught in a downpour and had to hurry back.
A rest stop a few hours into the trip
Our destination today was Lake Taupo…chosen by me as a good-looking lake in a geothermal area halfway between Auckland and Wellington. The bus driver was so New Zealand. I love the accent. Everyone here seems very nice and polite. Yesterday I scooted my chair in at the cafe to make more room for a man walking by and he assured me I didn’t need to do that. R. had his seat in the bus all the way reclined, blocking the door to the luggage storage compartment, and the bus driver protested that R. didn’t need to put his chair up as he struggled to squeeze through the door he could barely open. Can you imagine a driver in the U.S. not simply yelling at R. to get out of the way?
The bus ride was fun and relaxing. The view for the first few hours reminded me of driving up 101 to Calistoga in the spring. Lots of rolling hills, green fields, farms, and cows. Very few sheep which disappointed me. “More sheep than people” I always heard, but maybe they are further south. The only bummer about riding the bus was no chance to stop and take good photos.
We stopped for a lunch break around 2:30. Thankfully I’d gotten us sandwiches in Auckland as the eateries in this town resembled gas station mini-marts. I thought I might get a snack for later but the shops were hot and stuffy and didn’t smell great and all the food was pre-made and plastic wrapped. I’d been getting the sense that New Zealand was casually prosperous based on the towns we’d rolled through, but stopping and taking a closer look gave me a different perspective. Down and out people lounging in front of the bakery. The flip side of the block that fronted the highway had many empty storefronts. Glad I took that walk. It’s easy for a tourist to mislabel a place a paradise thanks to our unnatural point of view.
As we got closer to Taupo the landscape changed to a uniform pine forest – and a type of pine I’ve not seen before. Plus much evidence of logging with a preference for brutal clear cutting on fairly steep hillsides that looked like it wouldn’t be good for the soil.
I was shocked when we arrived in Taupo. To explain – I tried not to over-research this trip in order to preserve the element of surprise. I mostly read the Lonely Planet guidebook and dived deeper on the internet when necessary (buses and hotels). I thought this lake was in the middle of nowhere with a tiny town with three restaurants and a few hotels. Oooooo no! It’s a big big town with at least a half a square mile downtown, hotel after hotel on the waterfront, houses everywhere stretching back into the hills, chain stores, MacDonalds, traffic, hordes of vacationers. Okay not hordes. It’s busy but not crazy.
Our motel is adorable, little A frame rooms (only 15 total) with high ceilings, a living room with kitchenette and separate bedroom and SUPRISE our own hot tub in an enclosed area in the back. The front desk guy was so nice – this is a family run place and they live here. The cookies in the room were made by his wife. He teased us about probably wanting to know where the ice machine is because we were American and the only ones to care about that. Yes we love ice! Ice is great! I’ve got a soft spot for motels
At sunset nearly everyone was sitting outside their rooms, eating or drinking and looking at the lake. Felt homey and nice. Many families and kids…very much the motel vibe with our front yard being the parking lot and people driving in and out.
We walked a few blocks to dinner. The menu was all burgers and fish and chips, standard pub fare with one curry offered. I got that and it was great. We stopped by a liquor store and got cocktail makings and sat on our front porch watching the sun set FOREVER. There was still a hint of it at 10pm. We turned on the TV afterwards – first time all vacation – because I was hoping to see some New Zealand ads for products I hadn’t heard of. I saw a few but got tired and went to bed.
Roadtripz and Other Journeys 