4/5 December 2024 -New Zealand- North Island Lake Taupo

4 December 2024

We woke to another lovely day in Waiheke and enjoyed breakfast with the sun shining. We had sausages, bacon, poached eggs, smashed avocado with lovely sourdough toasted bread. We also had fruit (strawberries, blueberries) and yoghurt with granola. It was a big feast but we were moving on today. We enjoyed a coffee sitting out on the terrace with the bay in front of us and watching various boats at anchor and the busy birds in the bushes in front of us.

We had to leave our house at 10.00am. It had been a great few days and you know it has been a success when you want to stay longer. We said our goodbyes to Keith and Ruth (we had enjoyed their company) and headed for the ferry terminal at Kennedy Point, next to the Waiheke Marina. We sat on the ferry and enjoyed the trip to Half Moon Bay where I could see Stormbird on the hard as we arrived. We drove round and I took some things from on board and dropped some things off. We then had a coffee and then set off for Lake Taupo some 267 km away.

Although they drive on the left here and it used to be under English rule you wonder why they use kilometres rather than miles. The drive to Lake Taupo took just over 4.5 hours due to a lot of road works on the Route 1. We first went through urban sprawl and then it became a dual carriageway with speed limits of 100 and then 110 km an hour.  

The traffic was initially quite heavy then it settled down. However, the dual carriageway ran out and it was just an A class single carriageway type road which had several sections of roadworks. The scenery we passed through was lovely with green rolling hills and humps with lots of cattle and sheep. NZ has so much space with houses very spaced out and there is so much land and it has a relatively small population.

We came to Lake Taupo having passed a thermal area near Wairakei where there were lots of pipes and steam coming out of vents and chimneys. We were staying at the Hilton and found our room which was nice and sorted ourselves out. We had supper in the restaurant called Bistro Largo and could see the lake below us. This was good food and what we needed and we wanted an early night ready to explore the area tomorrow.

5 December 2024

We woke to a greyish morning and had a good breakfast at the hotel. We then headed down to Lake Taupo and skirted the edge of the town as we wanted to head to the Huka Falls (Huka Nui- in Maori). This was part of Waikato River which is the longest river in NZ. The main part goes through a rock gully at the end of which there is an 11m drop called the Huka Falls. You could hear and feel the power of the water at you stood there watching and could walk up one side where there were various rapids etc. The water looked very clean. The picture of the day is the water rushing down the gulley.

We then headed to the Huka Honey Hive. This is a free place where you can learn about bees and making honey. It is, however, a large shop as well selling all sorts of products -such as cosmetic honey products and it has a tasting counter of all sorts of different types of honey and of alcoholic drinks made with honey.  Whilst it is free to enter it is difficult to leave without buying something and we bought three honeys and some face cream!!

We learnt quite a bit about bees although we have learned a lot from Keith and Ruth who keep bees in the UK. However,  we learnt a few more things. Bees were brought to NZ from England in 1839. Bees suck up the nectar and store them in their tummies before they return to the Hive. However, their tummies are the size of a pinhead and in order to fill it they have to visit some 500 flowers!!

After the bee visit we went to what is called the Craters of the Moon. Craters of the Moon Therma Area (is a region with geothermal activity north of Taupō. It is a part of Wairakei, the largest geothermal field in New Zealand, with a surface area of about 25 km2, which lies in the Taupō Volcanic Zone.

The name springs from the many hydrothermal eruption craters, which are in part barren and which have bright colours. Combined with the numerous steam vents, constantly shifting, collapsing and reforming giving the whole area desolate appearance, and the sulphur smell, the whole area has an “unearthly” atmosphere. The craters are a relatively recent feature of the area and appeared as a result of human activity in the region.

All the craters at The Craters of the Moon are the result of hydrothermal eruptions. The pressure of the steam beneath the surface exceeds the pressure exerted by the weight of the overlying ground. This results in an explosion. A mixture of hot water, steam, hot mud and pumice is ejected into the air. Material may be blown up to 100 m, leaving behind holes or craters as deep as 20 m. Hydrothermal eruptions occur about once a year.

You essentially walk around on a gravel or wood walkway and should not get off this as the ground could be prone to collapsing or have hot mud underneath. We walked round which takes about 45 minutes and there are many holes from which steam and a sulphurous smell emits. The whole area was steaming and had vegetation which could only survive those conditions. It was interesting to see some of this bearing in mind the thermal area.

We next visited a lava glass factory where the artist makes fantastic glass products which reflect the local area. It had a café where we had some lunch. After lunch we headed into Taupo to enquire about a flight around the lake but the conditions today were not suitable. We therefore went for an ice cream and had a walk around the town before heading back to our hotel for tea. We chilled and relaxed and went out to a place called 2 Mile Beach Yacht Club which was on the lake and had great thin crust pizza. It was clearly the place to go as there were loads just having a drink and enjoying the evening. We had a pizza sitting on the edge of the lake and noticed a lot of black swans which were introduced here in the 1840’s. Clearly they like it here.

We then had a walk around the lake and headed back to the hotel where we chilled. We hope to do a flight tomorrow and to go and visit the Mount Ruapehu and to take the gondola up to the skiing area. It had been a most enjoyable day.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com