Leaving flat coastal land behind us we were back in familiar hilly territory, winding up steep roads with either pine tree plantations or scarred deforested land all around us. Having eaten a couple of superb meals out in Napier with terrific local wine we were going to be self catering again for the next few nights so called in at a local roadside farm shop to stock up on locally grown produce. It was only a short drive to Lake Taupo and our studio apartment was very smart and right on the lake, with lots of inclusive facilities, including bicycles, kayaks, tennis and mini-golf.
Lake Taupo is New Zealand's largest lake at 42km long and sits inside a caldera formed by the largest volcanic eruption thought to have happened on earth with the large Waikato River flowing out of it; there were plenty of black swans on the river when we strolled past, and we are yet to see a white one.
SWAN
We had a busy agenda planned for our 4 days but managed to get a couple of rounds of mini-golf played to rekindle our fiercely competitive streak; I narrowly won overall, hurrah.
Taupo was brimming with trim, fit looking Lycra-clad athletes from all over the world, here to compete in an IRONMAN competition. Incredibly the 1250 competitors have to swim 3.8km on the lake, cycle 180km and finish with a 42.2km run, which all sounds even worse in miles. The townsfolk and family supporters were all out along the streets to cheer throughout the day and evening. I strolled down to the lakeside at 8 O'clock in the morning to see the swimmers and already some of the top cyclists were heading out and later I watched and clapped near the noisy finishing area, especially in awe of the older participants.
Today was great and I shall call it 'geothermal day'. We began after breakfast with a couple of hours at the Wairakei Terraces, floating around in rocky pools of naturally heated mineral water, bubbling up from below the earth's surface.
Temperatures ranged from 38-42 degrees C in the various pools, situated in an idyllic, intimate parkland and I felt very dreamy in my favourite - the hottest pool - although I couldn't stay in it for long! Walking through the grounds it was fascinating to see the silica terraces and we were allowed to stand so close to pools with scalding water shooting up several metres in the air.
There was a strong Maori presence here too with many carvings and a recreated village for evening functions.
Five minutes down the road was our next spot, 'Craters of the Moon', which was the largest geothermal site in New Zealand comprising a huge area with hundreds of fumaroles (with jets of sulphurous steam escaping), craters of varying sizes and bubbling mud pools.
Walking around the site with hardly anyone else about was lovely and took almost an hour as we stopped to read all of the information boards and gazed down into the bubbling mud. I did keep on hoping for a small eruption to occur at any time, especially with the frequently located warning signs.
Following our visit to the dramatic Huka Falls where the Waikato Riverwas channelled through a narrow section of rock
I decided to walk back the couple of miles to Taupo along a beautiful undulating riverside footpath,
where I spotted this colourful toadstool,
and then amazingly as I rounded a bend and the woodland cleared I stumbled upon a whole crowd of people sitting in the shallows in the bend of the very fast flowing river.
A very hot stream was coming down the hillside and as it emerged into the river it created a wonderfully warm spot for locals and visitors to share; I couldn't resist joining them for a paddle and the water was amazingly hot. I made a stop at the Taupo bungy bridge, high above the river, on my return into town as tourist after tourist bravely threw themselves off the platform.
Rotorua is a top tourist destination, to experience Maori culture and see geothermal sites, and as it was nearby we felt we ought to go, but once there we felt a little bit underwhelmed. The town was large and very modern and most trip sites were out of town and coach-party-style places. The Maori side of things was nice to see, such as this modern meeting house still carved in the traditional way,
and I was fascinated with the number of small geothermal occurences around the town, right outside shops and houses, which were being used for heating and hot water. There was a section of the town park where bubbling hot mud pools were only just about fenced off in parts, can you imagine that in the UK? A lady in the Maori craft shop where we purchased an authentically carved wooden statue told us that the time to worry is if the steam suddenly stops coming up from the ground!
Today was a different story altogether and I think Steve and I both agree this was our finest trek ever. Indeed the 'Tongariro Alpine Crossing' is described in the guide books as one of the most fascinating treks in New Zealand, traversing the spectacular volcanic terrain of Mount Tongariro, and with a bit of danger thrown in for good measure this only added to the excitement.
Our day began with an early 6am alarm clock serenade followed by an hours drive to the finish point and shuttle bus round to the start. We were in the Tongariro National Park, one of the few with dual status, for both volcanic features and Maori culture. Our friendly Maori driver welcomed us in his native tongue then sang our group a song and wished us well on our tramp across sacred Maori land as we headed off with full rucksacks on our 19.4km hike, hoping to see something special; we were not to be disappointed.
We walked right past lava flows, some as recently as 1975, with no vegetation and then with the presence of a stream the scene changed for a while and we had a range of heathers and mosses to look at.
We walked across huge flat craters which felt a bit like walking on the moon,
with towering ridges all around and the foreboding sight of Mount Ngauruhoe (another volcano) alongside us.
We were not alone on the track as this is a popular walk with well crafted footpaths in places and we met some lovely people as we progressed and began to climb, at times using chains to pull ourselves up difficult, slippery sections. We reached 'Red Crater' after a steep ascent up a very narrow ridge, pleased that there was no strong wind blowing, and saw unbelievable colours and shapes in the rocks as we viewed it from the top. It was truly astonishing and we had never seen anything like it.
The descent - which we had been warned about - was very steep and along a fairly narrow ridge, and the footpath comprised of deep volcanic ash which we had to just basically slide down whilst keeping our footing. All very exciting with drops on either side.
The 'Emerald Lakes', such a vivid green as they are full of minerals, were below us as we slithered down and it was rather precarious stopping to take photographs, but there are just some things that you will never visit again. The contrast of the red rocks inside the crater to our right and the bright green water was nature at its finest.
All around was the familiar smell of sulphur and steam was being released from the ground near to the route-marked footpaths. We were frequently warned of the possible dangers and listened to a guide explaining to her group about a hillside eruption as recently as 2012. After many dramatic and colourful craters, lakes, peaks, and ridges our path headed downwards for the last 6km, zigzagging steeply with views right across to Lake Taupo in the far distance before a final couple of kilometres (which I powered through almost jogging due a sudden surge of energy) through familiar podocarp forest.
The weather had been perfect, sunny with occasional cloud but not too hot, it was an amazing experience which we were both thrilled to have done and in such a good time too. A very nice young American girl suggested to Steve that he should be really proud of himself for his achievement. I thought this was highly amusing and Steve wasn't sure whether to thank her or feel offended! It may be time for the shaggy white travellers beard to come off...
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