Day 9: Taupo to Tongariro: Exploring

In the morning we were all still rattled from the previous night’s experience. I have bruised knuckles on both hands and Rob has bruised palms from hitting the door so hard last night. I went down to the front desk for some more tissues and learned it was the front desk worker who helped us last night. He said the guy didn’t seem too drunk and when trying to help him find his room he was at the wrong motel completely. He just let him walk away that night to somewhere. Apparently, in the four years this worker has managed the hotel this has never happened–lucky us on our first night on our own in New Zealand. Fortunately, it can only get better from here!

We made a couple of nearby stops in Taupo before heading out of town, First, Huka falls. Fun fact: the volume of water would fill an Olympic sized pool every 11 seconds.

Next up was Huka Honey Hive. Fun facts: the queen bee lays 2000 eggs a day and the highest flying drone bee is the one that gets to fertilize the queen.

To make up for the closed McDonald’s airplane yesterday, we headed back again for lunch. I am failing miserably in my desire to have a “no McDonald’s” New Zealand experience, but man all three boys were so excited today, which made it all worth it.

After lunch Cooper and I watched some golfers try to hit a hole-in-one to a platform floating in the lake about 100 yards from shore. According to their info board, 1190 people have done it (winning $10k each). No idea how long it has been there, but I am guessing a long time. To pick up the balls all over the lake they have divers to get them. There was even a diver in the water while people were actively hitting balls, it was bizarre.

Thanks to the tip from Amanda, our next stop was Waitetoko Beach on lake Taupo, where a recent pumice stone drift was discovered, likely sent into rivers by all the land movement from so much rain. It was so relaxing and beautiful, we ended up spending more time here than any of us expected. Throwing the pumice stones into the lake was really fun, and even the worst of stone skippers (like me) can still have success with a pumice stone, since it’s less dense than water.

After that, it was finally time to head to our destination for the night, near the Tongariro Crossing track. We stocked up on groceries and filled the gas tank.

We arrived at this remote chalet surrounded by beautiful mountains and fields of sheep and cows. The boys were still super nervous to stay in another hotel room, but we assured them that if someone drunk made it to our chalet this time we were just doomed as there is nothing around here. Rob made us an amazing dinner of ramen, broccoli and tempura chicken nuggets, a definite crowd pleaser. It was really nice to have some family time in this beautiful quiet area. We have a potential big day ahead of us tomorrow with a 12 mile hike starting at 4:45am, so it was an early-to-bed night. Hopefully all will sleep soundly after the craziness of last night.