Lake Taupo is absolutely gorgeous. Taylor and I spent the day on the lake beach. The sky was clear and the heat was beating. I have noticed that in NZ the sun rays really beat down on you. It's not like California or even Hawaii where you will get a dark tan. In NZ, if you don't where sunscreen, you burn!!! I finally have a good tan so my skin is not as vulnerable!
Lake Taupo's water is soo warm! It's not like lakes in the States where there is a big contrast from the temperature outside vs the temperature of the water. Our friend Josh, who is one of the managers at the Raglan Backpackers, was also staying at the same hostel as us. It was nice running into him again!! We've decided that Taupo is in the running for a place to job search in the future.
Tangariro Crossing:
Ohhhhhhh Boy!
To be honest, the weather was awful!!! We woke up at 5am to catch the bus to the trail head of the Crossing. During the first leg of the hike it was drizzling and foggy. This was unfortunate because we were not able to see Mt. Doom, the ocean, other mountains, etc. We were able to see the different volcanic igneous rock formations, which was unique. The first leg was all uphill and stairs have been built to help with the steep incline. We powered through the first leg because we wanted to keep our body temperatures up. When we reached the top of Mt. Tangariro we were in the middle of storm. It was windy, hailing and foggy. There was a narrow path we had to follow with cliffs on either side. I felt like the wind was going to sweep me off my feet. The way down was fun because we charged down wet ash, making our shoes a mess! The second leg of the trip we saw acidic lakes. There was 3 of them. We also walked through a couple of huge craters, which made me feel like I was on Mars. It was a weird concept to think about such a huge flat surface on top of a mountain. The third leg was also downhill through meadows with geothermal activity. The strong sulfur smell was a little much on the nose! Taylor, Josh and I decided we were cold enough and started running down the path!! Thankfully there was a hut in the meadow with a fire. We were able to half dry our things and warm up for about an hour. The last leg of hike was through a forest. It was amazing to see the diversity of hike. The forest was lush with streams and wildlife. The Tangariro Crossing normally takes about 7 hours but we did it in 6. We would have taken longer if the weather had permitted, but the cold and wind pushed us along. Overall we made the best of the hike and had a good time. I can see how it is one of the best day hikes in the world. Even in bad weather the scenery and diversity was amazing.
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