Day 1: Tauranga to Taupo
Our bus ride from Tauranga to Taupo was cool, quiet, and not boring, if not spectacularly scenic. We made a rest stop in Rotorua that made me happy we chose to stay in Tauranga. There are lots of things to do in Rotorua but we’re not into extreme sports, we’ve seen thermal features in Yellowstone National Park, and some of the nature-related activities would have required a car.
In Taupo we saw the “coolest McDonald’s — better known as Macca’s here — in the world.” It includes a plane where you can sit and eat. Also a chrome dinosaur on a manmade rock? Don’t know the significance, if any, but it was fun. The plane was not enough to lure us into a McDonald’s.
We did stop at a bakery on the way to our hotel, where we got passionfruit muffins for breakfast.
After checking in and dropping off our bags, we headed for Merino Downunder, where we got possum socks and a couple of hats. There are many places to get possum fur and merino in New Zealand. This store had a wide selection and reasonable prices.
We had dinner reservations for Crafty Trout but decided to just go ahead and have a late lunch while we were out and about. It was a nice day to sit on the terrace overlooking the street and park. We bought beer and cider on the way home.
New Zealand has thougthful touches for travelers, like this SuperLoo in Taupo that has showers and lockers, and a bike repair station alongside the lake. (Although I just learned that as of last month, they’re removing the showers and lockers.)
Day 2: Huka Falls
Our longest walk of the trip was to Huka Falls and back. It’s easier to get there if you drive. The walk isn’t difficult, just long.
I was exhausted by the time we got back to town. We stopped at a bakery, the Pak n Save for sandwich makings, and Liquorland on the way back to the hotel. Then I took a shower to scrub off the zinc sunscreen. It worked well but made a mess.
Along our walk we saw some interesting camper variations. There are campers all over in New Zealand.
Day 3: Lakeshore Walk
After all our exertions yesterday, we took is easy today. We did about an hour walk along the lakeshore. Taupo feels — and looks — a lot like northern Michigan. (That’s a good thing.) well, other than Mt Doom and the other mountains across the lake. Yes, that’s Mt Doom from The Lord of the Rings movies.
There was lots of lazy activity along the lake, and a lot of art along the shore. Including seagulls who think they’re art.
We had a late lunch at Dixie Brown’s along the lake. We had to hold the beer can down for a photo so it didn’t blow away. Salmon pizza in common here, and it’s good. Oh, and every pizza we ate in New Zealand was served on a wooden platter.
Essentials
Lodging
We stayed at the Acacia Lakeview Motel, right across the street from the lake and within easy walking distance of restaurants and shopping. The room was spacious and pleasant and we enjoyed the outdoor terrace, even if we did have to peer around the end of a privacy screen for a sliver of a lake view. (You can pay more for a lake view room.) Nice hosts too.
Dining
There are many places to eat in Taupo. We had fish and chips (and excellent beer) at Crafty Trout, where the friendly “qualified chef” told us about a poke place he’d just opened. We had a nice chat with him. And with the woman at the bakery, our host at the motel … New Zealanders are just friendly like that. We also had cottage pie and salmon pizza at Dixie Brown’s along the lake.
Transportation
We considered renting a car while we were here, so we could get to the national park south of the lake. We decided that there was enough we could do in and near town that we didn’t need to. If we’d had a car we could happily have filled another couple of days. We took the Intercity bus to Taupo and then onto Wellington when we left. Part of the reason for stopping in Taupo was to split up the 11 hour bus ride.