Fun things to do in Taupo Region

The Tongariro NP is New Zealand's first National Park and a World Heritage site with active and extinct volcanoes, spectacular scenery, as well we high cultural and religious significance for the Maori people. I was unlucky with the weather, but the mountains looked amazing even in a cloudy, depressing day.
(For LOTR fans: Tongariro NP became Mordor in the film and Mt. Ngauruhoe stood in for Mt Doom)

The Huka Falls are the largest falls on the Waikato River which is one of New Zealand's longest rivers and it drains Lake Taupo - the largest freshwater lake in all of Australasia.
The name Huka is the Maori word for 'foam', plenty of that when they are running at their fastest!

DON'T MISS THESE FALLS, we thought they were really impressive, a sight to see!

The Waikato River, normally up to 100 metres wide, abruptly narrows to just 15 metres as it crosses a hard volcanic ledge. This of course causes a huge volume of water to collide together, forming the spectacular powerful falls and rapids.

Every second up to 220,000 litres of water gushes through the gorge and shoots out over 8 metres beyond to a beautful blue/green pool.
The water then bursts out of its rapids, and back into the Waikato River.

We did the easy riverside walk, there were more great views along here of the falls and rapids and of people enjoying the Huka Jet boat ride. Probably about a 30 minute walk.

Huka Falls is located in Wairakei Park. This is only a short 5 minute drive north of Lake Taupo.

One of our day trips was to have a look at lake Ohakukri. This lake forms the reservoir for the Ohakuri hydro electric power station and is the largest artificial lake of the Waikato river system.

Perhaps a shame that the making of this lake drowned two thirds of the Orakei Korako geothermal area, including two of the world's largest geysers, Minginui Geyser and Orakei Korako Geyser.
We stopped at the lakes edge, and viewed the thermal activity on the other side. We didn't take the boat across, weather wasn't good, so decided against it, plus we had already been to quite a few areas.
If you do take the boat, it takes you across Lake Ohakuri to the thermal area of Orakei Korako where hot springs, geysers, caves, mud pools and terraces make up the region. It really did look quite good from what we could see!

What you should see...............
There are 23 active natural geysers and evidently has the greatest number of active geysers of any geothermal field in New Zealand, with the most variable and most interesting changes.

There is a vast number of boiling hot springs to view at Orakei Korako as well as mud pools and there are extensive bush walks to enjoy through areas of native flora and fauna.

The thermal Ruatapu Cave (sacred hole)....... The cave extends 120 ft down to a hot pool at the bottom named “Waiwhakaata”, which means "pool of mirrors".

Perhaps we can return on a nice day to see this, I hope so!

On our wanders around Taupo, we came across a Plane at McDonald's.
Buy your Macca's, then head into the plane to eat it! Probably an experience that children would love, certainly different!

Think Planes & food must be a "New Zealand" thing, this was the second one we saw on our travels.

Mount 'Roo-a -pe-hoo", [ this is how you pronounce it] in Maori translation relates to its volcanic history. Rua = pit and pehu = to explode.
At 2 797 metres, Mt Ruapehu is the highest mountain in the North Island, and is an active Volcano.

Mt Ruapehu's eight named glaciers are the only glaciers in the North Island and the sacred Crater Lake (on top of the mountain) is one of only three in the world surrounded by snow and ice.

Whakapapa Village is New Zealand's highest settlement with permanent residents and is one of the gateways into New Zealand's first National Park. We saw a big Chateau ...."Chateau Tongariro which was built in 1929, reminded us of the Chateau's in Canada.
There is cheaper accommodation including camping areas. We couldn't do much here because of the weather, this was a shame.

Taupo airport is the nearest airport.

These waterfalls are located in the Tongariro National park.

Tawhai Falls is a tiny 5m waterfall that is reached by walking through beech and brown tussock grasslands. The falls tumble over the edge of an ancient lava flow and are situated at the lower elevations of Tongariro National Park.

It was only a short 20min walk to them, and because of all the recent rain, they were quite impressive!

We didn't see it, but people paddle over these falls, that would be quite a sight!

The craters of the moon area is still active and in expansion: the steam vents and craters are constantly forming and/or changing.

There was a set boardwalk that we did, taking you amongst all the craters, steam vents and mud pools. Along the walk there was plenty of interesting information on what we were viewing. The walk is very easy and is about 2.75 km long. The path goes clockwise, follow the path, do not leave it! Close to the end there is a possible extra loop called the Ridge lookout loop; the view from the ridge is nice and you will give you a good picture of the area.

Allow approximately 45 minutes to complete the loop and an additional 20 minutes for the upper lookout (this section is steep and stepped in places but the view is well worth the effort )

OPEN...................
8.30am - 6pm
December - 6th April (end of daylight saving)

8.30am - approx 5.30pm
During the winter months - dependent on daylight

ADMISSION...Adults $6.00 per person
....................Children (5 years to 12 years) $2.50 per child

Family Price (2 Adults and maximum of 4 children 12years and under) $14.50

We really enjoyed this area, it was cheap and just as good as display as a lot dearer ones in Rotorua. It didn't seem as touristy, maybe that has changed?

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Visit the Rapids, then visit the Power station to see how the energy is harnessed. We found it to be very interesting.

The power station was built in 1958, the first of its type in the world.

The Wairakei power station is due to be phased out from 2011, replaced by the Te Mihi geothermal power station. The use of steam from the field has had a number of visible effects on the local environment. Visible geothermal activity has increased (due to changes in the water table / water pressure allowing more steam to be created underground, upsurging at places like Craters of the Moon), while there has also been some land subsidence and reduction in steam volumes from the field after some decades of use. So far, total electrical production has been sustained or increased

The hot geothermal fluid that is extracted is originally cold rainwater that had percolated downwards and been heated by hot rock; pumping back the warm water that emerges from the exhaust of the generator system thus reduces the heat drawn from the ground.

Also, the Waikato river water is already too high in arsenic content to be safe to drink without special treatment, and so reinjection of the facility's water does not exacerbate this problem.