Saturday, January 23, 2010

Lake Taupo and on to Wellington

After leaving Rotorua, Violet and I took a bus one hour south to Taupo, New Zealand. Taupo is home to the largest freshwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere: Lake Taupo. The lake is the size of Singapore. Here are a few photos.







The first day we spent in Taupo was pretty rainy, so V and I took the chance to sleep in, do some laundry, and catch up on our reading. Our room had a nice little patio outside it, which was virtually private, so we also enjoyed our coffee outside. We booked a kayak trip for one of the three days we spent in Taupo. It was a 2 ½ hour trip to some large Maori rock carvings that have been carved into a huge rock wall that rises out of the lake. I did not bring my camera, so I don’t have any pictures, but Violet did, so perhaps I can procure some to add to the site.

The kayaking was fun, but I have to admit that I am not coordinated enough to be a crack kayaker (also known as a “cryaker”). As soon as I got my paddling down right, then my steering (done with the feet in the type of kayak I was in) was all off. The last 45 minutes were rough, as I was tired of constantly having to overcorrect for my poor steering. My arms were very, very sore the following night and the next day.

We didn’t do much else of interest in Taupo, though I took some walks around the pretty town and lake. Here are some photos taken in the nice little harbor and on the walk into the main drag through the town.






We left on January 10 Taupo for a long (full-day) bus ride to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, where we would take a ferry over to the North Island. The three-hour ferry ride was beautiful, and the pictures I took don’t do it justice, but here they are.











These pictures just don't show how dramatic the sounds were when arriving via ferry. You'll have to go see for yourself.

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures! (I am a terrible kayaker -- I always end up in the water!)

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  2. Great pictures--we cant wait to see and read more!

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  3. Thank you for the sweet comments! Sorry it takes me so long to update. It's at times difficult or prohibitively expenbsive to get a long time on the internet, and pictures take a long time to upload!

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