A Lake and Mountains

We spent this past weekend (the 11th and 12th) traveling south to Lake Taupo and the Tongariro mountains. I’m still amazed by the size of New Zealand and the geographical diversity they manage to pack in to such a small space!
We took a different route than we normally do when heading south out of the Tauranga region and, within an hour of home, were awed by the scenery. New Zealand is speckled with “scenic reserves” – which simply means an undeveloped section of land that will stay that way (at least for the time being). These areas aren’t really areas admired by locals or recommended by travel guide authors. And there are a lot of them. But, as are many other areas not designated, they are attractive.

Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand; it sits in the crater of a huge volcano. Apparently it is larger than the country of Singapore. Being poor at geography, that doesn’t actually help me put it in perspective, but you get the idea, at least – it is big.

My original plan was to rent a kayak and head out for a 4-hour paddle to see some carvings done by Maori artists. However, upon standing on the shore for closer to 4 minutes, while watching the white-capped waves and shivering against the wind, I quickly called that off. I’m a pansy, really. Instead, we opted to sign on for a little “tour”.

Tours are big in New Zealand – they seem to always include a vast multitude of photographic opportunities, a cheerful guide who may sideline as an amateur stand-up comic, the rental of some piece of equipment that comes with safety warnings, and, my favorite, a biscuit and tea.

Pleasingly, our Lake Taupo tour on the Barbary sailing yacht didn’t disappoint. The lake was blue, the mountains were awesome, the carvings were cool, the jokes were worthy, and the biscuit sweet. After receiving our complementary postcard of the Barbary (once owned by Errol Flyn), we headed south again.

The Tongariro mountains had been visible in Taupo, but we were hoping to get a little closer. There are three mountains, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu. (Fascinating fact: Ngauruhoe was featured in the Lord of the Rings series as Mount Doom.) At this time of year, the peaks are not accessible, except for the ski fields. But in summer, they are very popular, especially Tongariro, which has a popular hiking route. We settled for a short walk at the foot of Ruapehu.

We wrapped back up the other side of the range on our drive towards home. I got Cory to stop and get some panoramic photos of the three mountains; he even stood on the car to get a great shot – what a guy. Sometimes photography doesn’t do justice to the sight, but at least acts as a reminder. These shots are pretty awesome though.

We also managed to squeeze a walk around another thermal area. I know, you think we’d be tired of both waterfalls and thermal activity, but really, it just doesn’t get old!