Taupo and Nearby Adventures
From the Coromandel Peninsula, we stopped in a city called Tauranga which turned out to be larger and livelier than we expected! It was a beautiful day and we ate some ice cream as we strolled along the beach. The highlight was definitely the Mount Maunganui track. The payoff was high for this hike – it wasn’t very challenging, lots of stairs, but it was quite short, and the views were some of the most epic we’ve seen! Once you’re at the top, you get 360 views of Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.
We spent the next week with Taupo as our home base (we loved the campsite at 5 Mile Bay). We spent New Year’s there, enjoying the fireworks being set off over beautiful Lake Taupo.
We also spent lots of time at the library, connecting with recruiters in Wellington and applying for jobs. Taupo is a great central spot and from there, we split off on a few fun adventures.
White-water rafting the Kaituna River in Rotorua
The guides were totally what you’d expect - California surfer dudes who are all about catching the next set of rapids. They definitely reminded us of Kay’s skydiving partner, Jambo. The Kaituna River has grade 5 rapids and boasts the largest rafted waterfall in the world! Unfortunately, we didn’t hit the big waterfall quite straight and flipped when we landed. We were all flung out of the raft and lost hold of our paddles - it was pretty jarring. We all climbed back into the raft. All heads were accounted for, only 1 paddle missing! Again, we were the only group to fall in.
Tongariro National Park
Taranaki Falls Loop
A quick hike that gives good views of the mountains in the area and ends at the impressive Taranaki Falls.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
We were super excited about this famous full-day hike. We had a few false starts as there were gale force winds some of the days we wanted to go, so we had to postpone. The morning we finally got a good weather window, we hopped on a bus bright and early and headed to the trailhead. The hike is 13 mi, point-to-point (hence the bus), our longest day hike yet!
To start, the track climbs up to alpine country, right past Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe, famous for starring as Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. On the climb up, we were amazed by the ancient lava flows. The terrain at the foot of the upper mountain was otherworldly - with a flat clay floor and small rocks scattered around everywhere, it felt like being on Mars!
After reaching the saddle between Mt Tongariro and Mt Doom, we reached our highest point and looked down the valley to the Emerald Lakes. These lakes are vivid, multicolored alpine geothermal lakes. With steam rising through vents all around, it once again, felt like we were on another planet.
Due to its popularity, up until this point, we trudged along in a massive single file line, with hardcore long-distance runners occasionally weaving their way through.
We finally began the descent, endlessly zigzagging down the slope of Tongariro. This portion provided a stunning view of Lake Taupo the whole way. As our feet ached, we finally finished the last little bit through the forest and made our way back to Mayo.
