Taupo

Another weekend, another trip. The weather here in the central North Island has been great the last bit. It seems weird that it is the end of November and it keeps getting warmer. Most days it's mid 20s but with the thin ozone around these parts, you can really feel the sun.

This past weekend, we ventured off to Taupo which is located on the north shore of Lake Taupo.

Normally it's only about an hour's drive from our base, Taumarunui. On Saturday morning, it took us a couple of hours though as the Lake Taupo Bike Challenge was on. This is an annual bike race around the lake for a total of 160 kms. There was between 8000-10 000 riders in different categories, so to say there was a few bikes on the road would be an understatement.

Taupo was the starting and finishing point of the race, so the town was a booming.
Once we made it to town, we headed north to a lookout of the town and to Huka Falls.

The falls themselves are only about 11 meters high, but the brilliant blue colored water and large amount of water coming over make them a beautiful sight. Roberta was rushing me the whole time as she wanted to see Aratitia rapids. There are many dams on the river and at 2 o'clock they open them at Aratitia. It goes from a dry river bed to one flowing like it used to. After rushing there, we found out that they were doing maintenance and the gates were open all day. Roberta was a little bummed out about that. There were still some great views of the river.

All wasn't lost though, we got there just as a river boat cruise was leaving and so we hoped on for the ride. It was nice and peaceful and the boat driver was quite informative.

I was surprised at how close we came to the falls.

We stopped on the side of the river once to check out some hot pools but the river level was just a little too high so cold water was flowing through them.. You could really feel the heat when you dug your feet into the sand.

We had worked up an appetite so we grabbed a couple of big burgers from Burger Fuel. They lived up to their good name as they were delish. We then headed out to Spa Park and floated around in a hot pool that is right on the river. A Dutch guy told us about a free campground we should stay at for the night. Imagine that?! A Dutchman knew where to get some freebies. Haha. It was actually quite a nice place as well snuggled beside the river.

After a short stop at the Huka Honey Hut Sunday morning, we headed out to go kayaking on the lake. Our guide was the Dutch guy that had told us about the free campground. It was a beautiful, calm day on the water. we couldn't have asked for a better day. We were in a two person kayak and our guide warned us that they had the nickname of "the divorce boat". Ha. We soon got the hang of things and were able to keep in synch.

The views were spectacular. We headed over to the Maori rock carvings. They were just carved in the rock around 30 years ago. They are only accessable by boat which was kind of cool. Our guide told us the stories behind each of the carvings and about the artists who had carved them.

After admiring the carvings for a bit, we headed to shore to have a bit of a snack. Roberta and I took that opportunity to jump into the lake. It was quite chilly.

After a quick bite, we headed back to where we started. We couldn't have times it better as we got back the winds started to blow.

After our great kayak trip, we were a little famished so we had a BBQ by the lake.

Roberta then convinced me to head to Debrett's Thermal Spa to soak in the hot mineral water. I definitely didn't regret that decision. There was also a water slide at the place that was surprisingly quite fast and fun. Roberta did her usual scream like a little girl as she headed down a few times.

After a few hours there, it was time to head back to base again.

Over and Out.

P.S. Volcano Update - They still think that Ruapehu might erupt in the next couple of weeks, but the size of the eruption can not really be predicted. The unpredictability of these things was evident last week when Tongariro "erupted" without the scientists recording any changes. It wasn't much of an eruption just more steam than usual and some ash.

Hawke's Bay

Hey Folks,
We are back again after a couple of weeks "rest." We got away from base camp again this weekend after being on call last weekend. On Thursday we had a look at the weather forecast which said rain everywhere on the North Island except for Napier, so Friday right after work we headed to Napier.

It was a nice drive to get there that took us around Lake Taupo and to the east coast. Friday night we found a campground right on the coast and had a relaxing night watching the waves.

As you can see above, Napier is located on Hawke's Bay on the east coast.

It is in the heart of North Island wine country with hundreds of wineries in the surrounding area.

Napier is also the Art Deco Capital of the World. There was an earthquake in 1931 that leveled the city, so it was rebuilt in Art Deco that was popular at that time (much to Roberta's delight.) We spent a few hours on Saturday frolicking around the city and looking at the architecture with our self-guide pamphlet. 

A flower clock.

After our walk about, we headed to the National Aquarium. We got there just in time for the divers to feed the fish, sharks, and rays. There was a tunnel through the large tank so the sea life was all around you. They also had many of the native species of New Zealand including penguins, kiwis, and tuataras.

Dori!

After checking out the aquarium, we headed south of town and drove up Te Mata Peak which gave us some stunning views of the surrounding area. Pictures can never capture the vastness of the actual area. 

There were a pair of German backpackers setting up their tents right on the top. Later that night when we were in our campsite, the winds got quite strong and I found myself wondering if those two guys were regretting their decision. I guess I'll never know.

We were up bright and early on Sunday to see the sunrise. Hawke's Bay is on the first coast to see the sun every morning. We did go back to bed right away though. 

Evidence that Roberta even got up too. That is quite an 

accomplishment for her.

Once we were up for good, we decided that we would do the 19 km hike along the coast to Cape Kidnappers. 

We were the first two of the day to start breaking the trail. It was advised to start the walk around 4 hours after high tide so you could walk on the beach but we couldn't wait that long. We left about an hour after high tide and had to climb over the rocks and run in between spots, but it was all in good fun. 

The scenery was incredible with huge cliffs lining the coast. 

Cape Kidnappers is home of the largest mainland colony of gannets. Gannets are diving seabirds that are known for their interactions with each other. You may have seen them on shows like Planet Earth. They weren't scared of people at all so you could walk right up to them. 

Here are some facts about gannets.

When we finally got back to our van, it was time to head back. These weekends seem to fly by. 

On a different note, scientists think that Ruapehu might erupt in the next two weeks. It is the volcano we skied on and is around 40 kms from where we are currently living. We are supposed to be marshaling the "Goat Race" in two weeks which is a race around the mountain. It could be interesting!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/7970315/Pressure-builds-under-Ruapehu

Over and Out.