March 4, 2014
Our next destination was Lake Taupo. This region is one of New Zealand’s major attractions, somewhat based on its location en route from Rotorua to all the other major draws in the North Island. That said, it’s a lovely lake and does have one key attraction: Huka Falls.
Huka Falls aren’t particularly tall or wide, but they are incredibly powerful, the result of the wide Waikto River getting funneled through a narrow gorge before plunging down to the river below. It’s rather thrilling to stand on a bridge above the gorge and watch the water thundering through below, or go to the lookout and experience the explosive power of these falls. What makes Huka Falls even more unique are the shades of turquoise and teal blue in the basin below, apparently caused by the minerals in this bubbling, churning water.
Another river attraction is the Aratiatia Rapids. These rapids are actually created by a river dam that opens several times a day, creating an powerful expulsion of water that rapidly fills the riverbed below. Basically you can say the key theme of Taupo is the power of water.
Aside from these key attractions, there are museums, a prawn farm where you can learn all about the lives of prawns before eating them, hot springs, a modest thermal park, boat rides across Lake Taupo to an impressive Maori rock carving, and of course, all the usual thrill seeking activities (bungy-jumping, river rafting, jet-boating, etc.).
My plan for Taupo was for us to see Huka Falls and the Aratiatia Rapids before taking a lake boat ride to see the Maori carving. I was also looking forward to a night at the Hilton Lake Taupo, our “mystery hotel” located in a heritage building that’s been modernized.
We arrived at Huka Falls, taking a walk across the bridge that goes over the gorge. The water below was thundering through at high speed. It was impressive, but unfortunately someone had told Rich how amazing these falls are, making his expectations very high, and now he was wondering what all the fuss was about. We continued on to the lookout, right next to the falls. They’re beautiful if you’re not expecting Niagara Falls (like Rich was).
Actually the falls, combined with the amazing shades of blue at their base, are undeniably impressive. Once Rich got over his initial letdown, he found them beautiful, too. We lingered awhile, taking in the scenery and the falls. Below, photos of the falls. (Click on a photo in any of the galleries that follow to enlarge.)
Now, we had to hurry and drive to the Aratiatia Rapids. We arrived just before the dam opened and watched from the bridge above it. It was neat to see the water released, its power and turbulence as it hit the riverbed which rapidly filled. A black swan floated in an area just off to the side from the turbulent water, seeming to enjoy the ride he was getting. We were to find out later that black swans are quite playful.
We walked down a path to another viewing area, which I realized would have been a better place to watch the dam open. I climbed out on a huge boulder to the edge to get some photos (words that may end up on my tombstone someday) and took some time to admire this scenery. Like Huka Falls, there is a feeling of rushing water, huge boulders, and surrounding forest, river scenery at its grandest. In my opinion this rapids area was worth coming to see even without witnessing the dam opening.
Our next stop was the hotel. We took the road that goes along Lake Taupo. This lake is pretty, very large with view of low mountains on the far side. To the south we could see larger mountains, actually volcanoes, in the direction we’d be headed tomorrow. The lake itself is usually placid, but today the wind had come up and I could see it was very choppy. This wasn’t a good sign for our boat ride scheduled later this afternoon.
The small town of Taupo sits on a slope above the lake. Our hotel was further up a hill. As we approached, I could see part of the heritage building it used to be interspersed with the part that was new. This worked well from the outside but after checking in, we walked to our room and found the layout really bizarre. It seems the meshing of old and new hadn’t gone smoothly, making for some awkward and strange hallways that made me think of the Winchester House. Frankly, it had a rather bad energy. Thankfully our room was nice, overlooking a lawn and canyon behind the hotel (Mystery deals aren’t generally “view” rooms, and that was fine with us.)
We were now hungry and headed to a place called Plateau. They had just closed for lunch, but the bar was open and the chef said he’d make us what we wanted. How nice! We opted for the day’s curry (red chicken curry), fish and chips, and beer for Rich while I had a chardonnay. This particular eatery didn’t have a view, but the food was fabulous and they were so nice that I’d definitely recommend it.
After lunch we headed to the town’s marina, located at the mouth of the river that led into Lake Taupo. What a pretty little place, but we got the bad news that our boat trip had been delayed for the time being. We were advised to come back in an hour and check again, so we headed back to take a rest at the hotel.
As we headed back later we drove by the lake. By now the wind was stronger and the lake awash in whitecaps, little waves starting to break near the shore. I noticed black swans were swimming in the waves and was surprised to realize they were actually surfing them! Who knew swans were so playful?
By now we were getting tired and weren’t feeling up to a boat ride in this wind, even if it was a motor boat; so we were actually relieved to find our outing had been cancelled. Amazingly, another tour boat trip, in a sailing yacht, had not been cancelled. Ugh. I wouldn’t imagine that would be a nice ride!
So what now? We decided to check out the swans we spotted on the way over here. We found them, going to the beach to watch them. Apparently they had no fear of people and didn’t seem to mind sharing the beach with us. The sky was shades of gray, the water shades of blue, and the slight of black swans surfing on the waves was just something to behold. This, I suspect, may have been better than the boat ride!
Satisfied with our day, we returned to the hotel and enjoyed some wine and our view of the now-golden evening outside, complete with a rainbow.
Today had been magical in so many ways, and it had only been one day. I hoped tomorrow would be just as good. –Cyndi
