North Island Day Five
Alas! No more paying for parking! Our last night in Wellington was accompanied by the sounds of the city on Halloween night. We awoke early to get the car by 8am and be on the road to Lake Taupo, so no late night celebrating for us. Thinking about it now, I don't think I have ever done anything on Halloween night since I started college. Hmmm. Anyways, we decided to treat ourselves with a bigger breakfast for the 4 and a half hour drive ahead of us. A block or two down was a McDonald's - about the only thing open before 9am on a Saturday in walking distance - so we popped in before heading to the car. I was really excited to get the McGriddle, like I always used to before early morning softball tournaments. Looking over the menu, I saw nothing of the sort. But they did have breakfast wraps, which I thought would be an easier option to nom on while driving. Turns out the one I ordered had eggs, sausage and BBQ sauce. My kinda meal! We piled everything in the car and off we went!
Decent weather and a long car ride definitely called for a scenic walk. After about two hours of jamming to Megan's CDs she made us, we hit a gas station where we apparently looked incredibly lost and confused. Well, I was at first. We pulled into a Mobil station where we had a discount. At every other gas station I have been to here, the pump I use says 91 Unleaded. Well these pumps all said either Synergy 1000, Diesel or Synergy 5000. I'm sorry what? I figured I would stick with the cheaper option, like the 91 Unleaded always is. Before I could do so, a woman at the pump next to us came over and asked if we needed help. She reassured us that the Synergy 1000 was the same as 91 Unleaded. Whew. We then decided to make some sandwiches, since we are basically living off them for the week. PB&J for me and PB&B (peanut butter and banana) for Hira. Off we went yet again.
Hira had written down a few walks for us to do off the New Zealand Government website, but our GPS wasn't recognizing it. So we just figured we would head towards the Tongariro National Park and see what we could find. There are plenty of green and yellow signs scattered along the roadside to indicate walks or treks, so we figured we would find it along the way. We ended up seeing one of them, so we turned off the main highway to check it out. We didn't see a parking lot right away so we figured we would have to drive down the trail to find the start of the walk. With downed trees and only small shrubs surrounding us, we were a bit confused. "Pretty sure this was supposed to be a walk through a forest." Hira looked just as confused as I felt. The trail we were driving on was dirt of course, but it continued to get worse with wash boards, pot holes, and a lot of dips on the way. In an SUV we would have been perfectly fine. But here we are, strolling along in our tiny little Hyundai just trying to find the trail head. Classic. But a big shout out to those of you who I have gone four wheeling with, because thanks to you I actually knew what I was doing. We went on for what seemed like a good 10-15 minutes. We didn't know how far to go on that road, but all I knew was that the road was getting worse and we weren't seeing any signs for the walk. We found something on our GPS that looked promising, so we decided to give it a try. It took us deeper into the large National Park. At that point, we were really hoping to find a decent trail AND a bathroom. Luckily, the closer we got to our destination, the more cars we saw. Seemed like we were headed to a more touristy destination, which was going to be our best bet. No more four wheeling in our little car to find a walk. We arrived in Whakapapa Village (mind you, the "wh" in Maori is pronounced as an "f") where there was free parking, a visitor center AND decent bathroom. Next best thing would have been WiFi! But that's hard to come by around here. While most of the treks were multiple day hikes, we discovered a 2-hour walk that took us to Taranaki Falls and looped back into the Whakapapa Village. Perfect. And it sure was! It was such a diverse trail that took us through forests, over rivers and streams, out into the bush, and were paired with stunning views of a volcano, the falls, and snow capped peaks. Pretty amazing if I do say so myself.
Alas! No more paying for parking! Our last night in Wellington was accompanied by the sounds of the city on Halloween night. We awoke early to get the car by 8am and be on the road to Lake Taupo, so no late night celebrating for us. Thinking about it now, I don't think I have ever done anything on Halloween night since I started college. Hmmm. Anyways, we decided to treat ourselves with a bigger breakfast for the 4 and a half hour drive ahead of us. A block or two down was a McDonald's - about the only thing open before 9am on a Saturday in walking distance - so we popped in before heading to the car. I was really excited to get the McGriddle, like I always used to before early morning softball tournaments. Looking over the menu, I saw nothing of the sort. But they did have breakfast wraps, which I thought would be an easier option to nom on while driving. Turns out the one I ordered had eggs, sausage and BBQ sauce. My kinda meal! We piled everything in the car and off we went!
Decent weather and a long car ride definitely called for a scenic walk. After about two hours of jamming to Megan's CDs she made us, we hit a gas station where we apparently looked incredibly lost and confused. Well, I was at first. We pulled into a Mobil station where we had a discount. At every other gas station I have been to here, the pump I use says 91 Unleaded. Well these pumps all said either Synergy 1000, Diesel or Synergy 5000. I'm sorry what? I figured I would stick with the cheaper option, like the 91 Unleaded always is. Before I could do so, a woman at the pump next to us came over and asked if we needed help. She reassured us that the Synergy 1000 was the same as 91 Unleaded. Whew. We then decided to make some sandwiches, since we are basically living off them for the week. PB&J for me and PB&B (peanut butter and banana) for Hira. Off we went yet again.
Hira had written down a few walks for us to do off the New Zealand Government website, but our GPS wasn't recognizing it. So we just figured we would head towards the Tongariro National Park and see what we could find. There are plenty of green and yellow signs scattered along the roadside to indicate walks or treks, so we figured we would find it along the way. We ended up seeing one of them, so we turned off the main highway to check it out. We didn't see a parking lot right away so we figured we would have to drive down the trail to find the start of the walk. With downed trees and only small shrubs surrounding us, we were a bit confused. "Pretty sure this was supposed to be a walk through a forest." Hira looked just as confused as I felt. The trail we were driving on was dirt of course, but it continued to get worse with wash boards, pot holes, and a lot of dips on the way. In an SUV we would have been perfectly fine. But here we are, strolling along in our tiny little Hyundai just trying to find the trail head. Classic. But a big shout out to those of you who I have gone four wheeling with, because thanks to you I actually knew what I was doing. We went on for what seemed like a good 10-15 minutes. We didn't know how far to go on that road, but all I knew was that the road was getting worse and we weren't seeing any signs for the walk. We found something on our GPS that looked promising, so we decided to give it a try. It took us deeper into the large National Park. At that point, we were really hoping to find a decent trail AND a bathroom. Luckily, the closer we got to our destination, the more cars we saw. Seemed like we were headed to a more touristy destination, which was going to be our best bet. No more four wheeling in our little car to find a walk. We arrived in Whakapapa Village (mind you, the "wh" in Maori is pronounced as an "f") where there was free parking, a visitor center AND decent bathroom. Next best thing would have been WiFi! But that's hard to come by around here. While most of the treks were multiple day hikes, we discovered a 2-hour walk that took us to Taranaki Falls and looped back into the Whakapapa Village. Perfect. And it sure was! It was such a diverse trail that took us through forests, over rivers and streams, out into the bush, and were paired with stunning views of a volcano, the falls, and snow capped peaks. Pretty amazing if I do say so myself.
We returned to the car for another PB&J snack and were then on our way through the rest of the National Park to our hostel at Lake Taupo, another hours worth of driving. Apparently Lake Taupo is the same size as Singapore, where my flat mate Sheryl is from! Whoa. Also, jumping way back in time, remember that Maori legend I mentioned about how the South Island was Maui's canoe, Stewart Island its anchor, and the North Island the massive fish that Maui caught? Well Lake Taupo is supposedly the heart of the fish, and Wellington Harbor is the eye of the fish. So basically we are smack in the middle of the North Island here at Lake Taupo. We checked in to our hostel just before dinner and then headed to the nearest grocery. I purchased a mince and cheese pie and chips (healthy I know...cheap was the main goal) while Hira indulged in some soup. While waiting for my pie to warm up in the oven, I browsed through the free food bin in the hostel. Usually it is nothing worth keeping, but this time, we grabbed a little bag of kumara (sweet potato) chips, about a third of a bag of corn flakes (which I have been nibbling on back in Dunedin for the past few weeks, and half a pack of custard cookies (which were to die for). Food certainly does taste better when it's free! I wish I could say I felt bad about taking it all, but as a college student on a budget for this trip, I will take what I can get. We shared a room with two American girls and a man from Germany. In the morning, we would be off for another adventure!
Thanks for reading :) I will write again soon!
Thanks for reading :) I will write again soon!
Tongariro National Park | Lake Taupo |