Lake Taupo
Accommodation: Thurs 13th Feb – Sat 15th Feb
Thurs 13th Feb
Our first activity in the Lake Taupo region was a visit to the Craters of the Moon where we finally caught up with Colleen and David. The area was an interesting landscape of craters, mud pools and vents of steam. This crater visit, and a stop off for lunch at a Taupo cafe, helped to fill in the time before our 2 pm AirBnB check-in. Colleen and I also filled in some time checking out the local shops where we were advised by one of the locals about how to pronounce ‘Taupo’. She said it is pronounced ‘Toe Paw’ so, now we know.
Our accommodation was a lake-front duplex which we found to be a lovely, modern, clean and well located space near all the restaurants, bars, cafes and shops of Lake Taupo. It was exciting to find a BBQ on the back deck as we planned to eat at home on Friday night so as to avoid Valentines Day restaurant deals.
There was a gender divide for our afternoon activities with the girls opting for a short lakeside walk and the boys going for a bike ride along the Great Lake Pathway. This was a great 10 km pathway that ran right in front of our duplex and extends from Lake Taupo Harbour down to Five Mile Beach.
There was one stroke of extraordinary good luck for me this afternoon after our walk however. When I was getting ready for the walk I realized I had lost an earring, a rather expensive silver hoop. I thought it might have happened when I took off my sloppy joe, on our earlier walk around the shops, so Colleen and I decided to retrace our steps in search for this needle in a haystack. I looked around on the ground, where I had taken off my jumper, but no luck. I then thought I would inquire inside the shop that was fronting this part of the street and the shop attendant excitedly replied ‘Yes’ and seemed as similarly pleased as I was for me and my earring to be reunited. She had found it earlier when she entered the shop and I thought how lucky I was that it was her that found the earring, and not some random passerby?
It was 5.30 pm by the time we all stepped out again to head to dinner. We had a booking for Plateau Bar & Eatery for 6 pm so we headed there early. This was a great find as, although it was just near our duplex, it was away from the main restaurant hub and did not inspire much from the outside. I had read about this recommendation on one of the blogs from my research though and I’m glad we persisted as the restaurant turned out to be a great find. The food, wine and ambience were all lovely and we chose items from the sharing menu that were all delicious. This is definitely a restaurant I would recommend if you’re ever in Lake Taupo.
We came home after dinner to enjoy the amazing lake view from our duplex. It was like watching an artwork in progress with our view being nothing short of spectacular. This was the most fantastic accommodation find for our stay in Lake Taupo and we all agreed we should dine-in tomorrow so as to take more advantage of this delightful view.
Fri 14th Feb
It was another lovely morning so we all went for a lakeside walk where we found an interesting coffee cart right on the lake near one of the designated beaches. We didn’t dawdle though as we had a 10.45 am booking at the Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park and we stopped off to view Huka Falls along the way. Huka Falls was an impressive body of water with the equivalent of 15 Olympic swimming pools worth of water flowing Toby every minute!
Orakei was another geothermal park but had the added benefit of a boat ride to reach the park and we all finally got to see a Silver Fern. The park was about a 30 minutes drive from our duplex and we spent just over an hour exploring the site.
The boys went on a bike ride in the afternoon and us girls did some browsing of the shops and had a pedicure. Mark, Coll and David then went to have a swim in the Lake which was rather brave as the water temperature was reported as being only 19 degrees and is why I gave it a miss. I’m hoping to have a swim tomorrow, when we reach Napier, and we can swim in the Pacific. Dinner was at home tonight because of Valentine’s Day but we were all excited to have a home cooked meal.
We had enjoyed our time in Taupo but we probably could have done with an extra full day. I would have liked to hire a bike and ride the 10 km Great Lake Pathway. Our stay was made so much more enjoyable due to our lovely accommodation and I would highly recommend this place if you ever visit Lake Taupo. Next stop is Napier.