Cities were not the point of our travel in this country so we moved on to reach the wilderness of Tongariro National Park. I was too excited to get my hiking boot on for the renowned best one-day hike in New Zealand, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing across three active volcanoes (apparently not to take too lightly), but soon I was cool down by a really bad snow’ storm that closed all streets going into the park for days and the forecast wasn’t going any better, it planned to last a week, thanks!
A distance glimpse of Tongariro N.P., it felt like to be in another planet
No time to waste and I needed to give myself a little treat to made up for this disappointment so we carried on through the acclaimed Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in Australasia (616 sq km) and the crater of a massive volcanic eruption more than 26,500y ago, for an emergency relaxation section at one of the many Taupo’s thermal pools. Aahhh soaking up for a while (well they had to kick us out otherwise we wouldn’t move) in the many mineral pools at De Bretts Pool was just .... fantastic. With our body completely relaxed and steamed, we felt we need to kick in with some exercise so we hit the Huka Falls Walkways, along the Waikato River, till we reached this dramatic falls, despite the fact that we were tempted for another beauty therapy stop at the free natural hot stream en route.Enthralled by the geothermal power of this part of the world, we rushed to Rotorua with its myriad of thermal hot springs, exploding mud pools, huffing steams and geysers that ooze up from beneath the “Ring of Fire” where some of the Earth’s tectonic plates crush into each other generating this spectacular powerful energy, visible to us when water joint together.
Bowentown Heads, Bay of Plenty
After all we were on holiday so, absorbed the science’s lesson, we hit the road once again in search to spend some lazy time on the beach and that’s where we followed two notable roads: the Pacific Coast Highway, leading to the Bay of Plenty and the dramatic Coromandel Peninsula, and The Twin Discovery Highway heading to the less crowded The Far North. We drove by pristine beaches, wonderful crystal-clear ocean, secluded coves, huge sand dunes and tranquil harbours with some great subtropical weather tag along..jpg)
Dunes at 90 miles beach
Tips:
- Rotorua and Taupo are on the centre of this wonderful geothermal field and therefore are big money-tourist attractions but you could still enjoy some mineral bath and visit some geothermal park with courtesy of Mother Earth and who of us don’t like freebies? Immerse yourself in the hot pool on the river just next the entrance of Wai-O-Tapu complex and wander around Kuirau Thermal Park in Rotorua, when such amusements are free I enjoyed them even better :-) ;
- there are no reason to stop to Kawakawa (really there are weird people around this town) unless you urge to have a wee at the Hundertwasser’s famous toilet but after that ... run away!;
- Auckland didn’t impress us either; two days were more than enough to us to visit this busy hub what you reckon?;
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