On the way we deviated a few kilometers to see the Huka falls, some waterfalls quite famous for these places. Although in the first attempt we got confused about the road and went to a park to catch prawns! Weird, no? It seemed to us.
Back on the right track, we meet again with a wandering Chinese-Korean-Japanese with his backpack on his back. He is not the first backpacker that we see traveling through New Zealand on a paw ... the fact is that he did not even intend to stop a car to pick it up. We could not do it done, our car is two-seater, like good sports cars! Once in the Huka Falls, we were not very surprised ... if it is true that the amount of water that passes and the fierceness with which it does is somewhat impressive, but there is almost no fall (which will be, 20 meters?) . Much name for so little chicha.
Actually, the best of these days has been to surround Lake Taupo, with the snow-capped mountains in the background of Pureroa Park. On its shores we have done night, accompanied by a strange guy who put rocks on the roof of his car ... the same was making some kind of signal those who watch us from the sky ... nah, I was just a little crazy. Of course, as always, the spectacular sunrises!
We do not stop in the town of Taupo, we intend to come back here in the future, on the way to Tongariro (we will do it, we will not do it ...?). Where we stopped was at the southernmost tip of the lake, in Turangi. Here we recharge the batteries in a bathroom, we discharge other things in the same bathroom and we approach the nearby Tokaanu Bay to spend a few more nights, in a parking lot at the edge of another lagoon, where the lucky owners of pleasure boats come to navigate . A good place not to make the egg, read, have breakfast with our friends black swans, and little else ...
We finish surrounding this piece of lake, on the other hand, passing by a road with beautiful views. We spent the last night in a small forest near a river, a place where one could perfectly have recorded some of the scary movies in which a couple traveling by van is killed by a madman who has just escaped from the psychiatric hospital. Of course, the site was nice for a while!
Where to sleep:
Throughout the tour of Lake Taupo we spent several nights in different places (all free).
- The first one was in a parking by the lake, on SH1. There is a 24 hour non-flush bathroom very shabby. But the site is spectacular, stunning views of the lake. You can sleep peacefully.
- The second was in Tokaanu Bay, in a parking lot for people with recreational boats. There are several bathrooms 24 hours in a building (flush) and drinking water. The site is quiet and recommended.
- The last one was in Whakamaru, in a beautiful place in the middle of a forest and next to the Waikato river where a lake forms. Good place to fish. Something cold and somewhat insecure, but incredible place. There are 24-hour “non flush” bathrooms but clean. There is no drinking water.
