Rotarua and Taupō

A long day of driving, first from Clive to Lake Taupō. Route 5 is hilly and curvy, with quite a bit of roadwork still going on repairing damage from Cyclone Gabrielle a year ago. Lovely views of fields and forest. Well, where aren’t the views lovely in New Zealand? We stopped high up along route 5 for a view of Waipunga Falls. Then met Maz & Brian at The Ploughman’s pub for a lovely outdoor lunch in Taupō. Doug knew Maz and Brian from time spent at an observatory near Cape Town, South Africa, many years ago. They’re good friends of our friends Dave and Muriel, who reconnected us with Brian and Maz. So nice for me to meet them for the first time and for Doug to reconnect.

From there we headed the rest of the way to Rotarua. Stopping at the amazing Huka Falls along the way. Very busy and touristy, but stunning, blue, rushing river rapids forcing their way through a narrow forge along the Waikato River. Well worth the stop. The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand (264 miles) and the only outlet from Lake Taupō. It runs through Huka Falls and then north and west, through Hamilton and eventually out to sea at Port Waikato. I heard there was a great soaking spot just out of Taupō where the cold river water mixes with a geothermal stream, wish we’d had time to find it!

By the time we got to Rotarua, it was rush hour. Took forever to get across town to our next Airbnb, right on the lake. As soon as we pulled in the little lake flies started gathering around the car, uh oh…. The house was big and had comfortable beds and was indeed right on the lake, but it was also full of those teeny gnat-sized flies, both dead and alive. And worst of all, the owners had done some painting recently and you could still smell the oily paint odors.

After a pizza from Pizza Hut (yes, really, Pizza Hut. I was a Pizza Hut waitress over 45 years ago! 😱) we started debating if we could stay or not. Airbnb would give us the refund of 1 night’s stay, so we decided to checkout in the morning. Found another Airbnb back in Taupō and moved on. Rotarua host was very kind and refunded the other nights. Still don’t understand why no one else was bothered by the fumes.

On the way back to Taupō, we stopped in the public park in Rotarua to see what geothermal features were there. The best thing was seeing a concrete ring with steam rising out of it someone’s back yard! The other thermal features were honestly a bit meh.

Back in Taupō we had a beautiful airbnb, with a gorgeous view of the lake. Much better! Had hoped to swim in the lake, but just never got around to it. Took a great walk along the lake on the Rangatira Point track. Steep here and there, but a comfortably cool walk through a shaded path with frequent views of the lake and some really great swimming spots along the way. Good forest bathing. Found a modern, carved Māori statue along the shore.

Another day we took the little Ernest Kemp boat to see the modern era Ngatoroirangi Mine Bay Māori Rock Carvings on a cliff face. The Ernest Kemp is a replica of a steamship, but very tiny. The tour went past the trail we’d walked the day before. The carvings, which can only be seen from the water, were quite impressive. They were created in the 1970s.

Info about the carvings from NewZealand.com: Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell, a master carver, “decided to carve a likeness of Ngatoroirangi, a visionary Māori navigator who guided the Tūwharetoa and Te Arawa tribes to the Taupō area over a thousand years ago. In recognition of the cross-cultural nature of New Zealand, Matahi carved two smaller figures of Celtic design, which depict the south wind and Ngatoroirangi stopping the south wind from freezing him. The main carving is over 10 metres high and took four summers to complete. The artwork is Matahi's gift to Taupō. He and four assistants, Te Miringa Hohaia, Steve Myhre, Dave Hegglun and cousin Jono Randell, took no payment other than small change donations from local bar patrons to cover the cost of the scaffolding. The carvings have become an iconic cultural attraction for the region and a clear demonstration that traditional Māori knowledge and skills continue to be passed from generation to generation.”

We ended our stay with another visit with Maz and Brian, this time at their home, which wasn’t far from our Airbnb. A really nice, relaxing visit. So glad Rotarua didn’t work out. Much nicer to have had more time to get to know Maz and Brian!Read more