Oh Taupo. I’m sure you’re lovely, but we just didn’t spend enough time together.

Dad and I were excited! We were driving from Napier to Taupo, and the first thing on our list was the Taupo Cliffhanger. It was another notch on my “be brave” belt.

We arrived just in time to see a brave tourist dive head first into a bungy jump. Ok… my keenness for the bungy swing was fading. I even needed to nervous wee. We walked into the shop to get started but bad news: the swing was under maintenance for the next few hours. Oh no how sad (or not *side eye*).

So with time to waste, we went exploring. First up, the Taupo Hot Springs!

Hour 1: Taupo Hot Springs

Another win for the motorhome – we could drive around and check out all the sites! The Taupo Hot Springs were just up the road, and boy were they were busy; shoulder to shoulder people sitting in hot water (from the spring orrrrr…) and they were loud. Shouting kids. Laughing, boisterous tourists. Okay we saw the hot springs, lets move on. I don’t know how I can hate tourists so much; I am one.

See above; strategic photo taking of the hot water flow, cutting out all annoying tourists. Before we left we sat on the park benches there and had our lunch – a beautiful fritatta we had picked up at a cafe in Napier and kept in the fridge #vanlife.

Hour 2: Huka Falls

With hours still to waste, we headed out to Huka Falls. Huka Falls is the largest on the Waikato River being 20 meters wide and 20 meters high! Very impressive! The sound of the water gushing through would’ve been very calming… if it weren’t for all the tourists jostling past.

After a full walk from the view point at the top of the falls, to the view point on the bottom of the falls, we STILL had time to waste, so we moved on to the Craters of the Moon.

Hours 3 & 4! Craters of the Moon

Craters of the Moon is a large area of land, bubbling and steaming with geo-thermal activity. You walk through the “craters” on the safety of a board walk, which you are constantly advised to stay on. Here we only encountered a few other people, making it a nice place to take in the view and read all about the geothermal activity.

It was certainly interesting! And oh gawd the smell. Like rotten eggs. Hilarious! I liked visiting every crater and rating the pungency of the steam. Once we had taken 2 whole hours to explore Craters of the Moon, it was finally time to head back to Taupo Bungy.

Unfortunately (or not) the swing was still under maintenance, and the team couldn’t guarantee that it would be ready tomorrow. No hard feelings; better safe than sorry. Also, I didn’t really want to be the first one to test it, haha. So we left slightly disappointed (or not), and decided we were done with Taupo. We took the road to Rotorua, stopping only to check out some geo-thermal mud pools.

So like I said, I’m sure Taupo had so much more to offer, but I just didn’t get to see it. I will totally give it a second chance next time I’m in New Zealand. I’m totally desperate to come back with Matt and explore the South Island with him.

Multiple Choice Question for you to answer!

I have never…
a) Had to nervous wee
b) Hated a tourist
c) Smelt a geothermal crater

Multiple answers are accepted! I want to know more about you!