Taupo, Huka Falls and a Sail

Today I am in Taupo NZ. I got up early and headed out on my bike. What a pleasure riding my bike without the heavy bags on it. After a quick coffee stop I headed out to see Huka Falls. It was about a ten mile ride to get there and see the nice falls. Then I rode a bike trail for about 40 miles before heading back into town for a shower. I was drenched in sweat.

I still felt like doing something so I found a lake cruise run by the owner of my hostel. It was only $25 for a three hour cruise in his sailboat. There were three girls and myself as passengers. The two French girls that sat up in the bow for the entire trip were pretty tough. They got drenched with cold spray yet refused to move to a drier area and refused warmer clothes or any help what so ever. I was impressed with their tenacity. I sat back in the stern and stayed nice and dry. The ride was perfect with just the right amount of wind to get us going well but not so much that we were fighting swells.

We cruised around looking at the fall colors along the shore and then went to see some Maori stone carvings. The carvings were done fairly recently not hundreds of years ago but they were done by Maoris in their own style as a gift to the city of Taupo. The story goes that the carvers were into using mind altering drugs to help them connect with their ancestors and carve in the traditional manner.

I enjoyed the cruise and the company. I will have to watch for things like this more in the future. Here are some pics

Wellington to Lake Taupo

I enjoyed my two days in Wellington. This morning I took one last bike ride around town and then caught a bus for the 7 hour trip to Taupo. Taupo is famous for rainbow trout. Guess where they all came from???? The SF Bay area. They came out of Strawberry Creek and one of the creeks in the South Bay. I would like to go fishing here but I just can't afford the price of a charter and I have no gear or local knowledge which is needed to catch something. I will look into it a bit more before I leave.

The bus ride was long. Glad I decided to break the ride up to Auckland into two trips instead of just one long one. I was just about starting to have seizures at the end of this ride. The scenery was great but I had a hard time getting any good shots from a speeding bus. It was hugging the coast to start then mostly rolling hills and flat rural valleys all the way to Lake Taupo. The Lake is a lot like Lake Tahoe. Just as touristy too. I plan on riding my bike around all day to check it out tomorrow.

My bike ride here in NZ is over for now. I will still ride tomorrow around the Lake here and for one day around Auckland before I have to box it up for Sydney. I feel a bit disappointed that I did not complete my goal of riding around both islands. The weather conspired against me and I ran out of time but I still enjoyed every minute here and will return for sure.

a few pics