New Zealand: day 5 - Taupo to Wellington

We woke in our lovely moderately-priced hotel on the shores of Lake Taupo, rejoiced that we didn't have to get out the door at the butt crack of dawn, and hit the road at 10am.  Our lovely hotel clerk sent us on our merry way with a boatload of well-wishes and enthusiasm for this terrific bluebird crisp day.  

Our first stop was just north of Taupo at a place called Huka Falls.  These falls aren't particularly high, but they are LONG.  The runoff from the whole of Lake Taupo gets funneled down a slot canyon that's barely 40' wide, so the water moves through fast.  when it gets to the other end of the slot, it shoots out at a huge velocity, shooting much further out than its descent.  The city built a bridge over the middle of the falls, so visitors can stand directly over the rushing channel.  We all three talked about how cool (and scary) it would be to raft it.

From the falls, we drove just a few minutes further to Craters of the Moon Geothermal Park.  The park was little more than a 2k walk through a geothermal field.  There were some informative signs to share some interesting aspects about the ecosystem.  

Then, it was time to say goodbye to Taupo.  We drove back through town, down along the eastern edge of the Lake, stopping for lunch and gas in Turangi.  From there, we drove into Tongariro National Park.  The park encompasses a few ecosystems, including dense forest and arid planes.  It also hosts the mountain that played Mount Doom in the LoTR films.  We stopped to do the short walk to Tawhai Falls, which was the location of Gollum's Pool, also in the LoTR films.

my preciouses

We headed further into the park and the visitor center, only to be stymied by the lack of good magnet selection.  S had eyed a longer hike, but it was getting late in the day and we still had four hours of driving ahead of us.  So, we skipped the hike and opted for a handful of fun stops along the way.  

The first stop was at a playground in Ohakune, which boasts NZ's largest carrot.  The playground was built for kids in honor of the deep agricultural roots from that area.  Bunny was in heaven.

We continued SE to the Tangiwai Memorial site, commemorating a Christmas Eve train crash in the 1950s that killed over 150 people.  There were memorials to the dead, informational displays about the crash and the recovery, and a short walk to the crash site.  It was pretty moving.

We hopped back in the car and kept driving.  We decided to stop for dinner in Bulls, a town known for embracing their big pun (who do you call when someone breaks the law?  The consta-BULLS), but the restaurant options looked for crap, so we continued on to Palmerston North, where we found a terrific brewery that made some delicious pizzas. 

Kiwis love their puns.

I had a half-pint of an IPA that was lovely.  

Fortified for the last leg of the drive, we hopped back in the car.  We had just over two hours to go, and the sun had set.  As soon as we left Palmerston North, the rain started.  So, we're on narrow winding two-lane highways, driving at 90 kph, without streetlights, in the rain, driving on the left.  The rain lasted for about 45 minutes, and when it finally gave way to clear skies, my fingers were sore from the white-knuckling.  But, we made it safe and sound. 

We got to Wellington at around 9pm, unloaded everything, and H was knocked off by around 10.  S followed soon after.   I stayed up to blog and do some laundry.  Big day tomorrow!