It was just only two days after arriving back from Queenstown, and a day after watching Spiderman: No Way Home, that we commenced on yet another long, but a fun and an exciting trip. This time, it was a road trip which took us to three places to stay - Rotorua, Taupo and Tauranga. This trip was fun and exciting, and was adventurous as it involved both adrenaline - related activities and nice walks through the geysers. The car trips were also interesting and nice as it went through different scenery in different places - from the thermal explorer highway and the Waikato Expressway to the Pacific Coastal Highway/East Coast.
Please take note that like the Queenstown trip, this trip was also supposed to happen in 2021 August - September university semester break, but the Delta variant had forced us to move it to the New Year.
âWe left Auckland early in the morning on the 28th of December. We bypassed Hamilton, and deciding to have lunch in Tirau before going to Rotorua (which, happens to also be our final destination for the year although it was the first stop of our trip). Tirau is a lovely township with a number of good cafes in the South Waikato district. The town also boasts a museum and is a historical place. After arriving in Rotorua and checking in, we rested (due to the long 3 hour drive), had dinner and went to bed. The next day, we went to the Whakarewarewa geothermal walking trail, and we did the walk, which was about one to one and a half hours long. It was very scenic, and the geothermal trails are lovely. Then, the next day, I went to the altitude tree top adventure in the Redwoods forest to do the treetop adventure, which was thrilling and is about 2 hours long. It involved me crossing bridges, and also going through 3 ziplines! Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of this, as my mum did not allow me to carry my phone with me to record the experience. After that we had lunch, went for a walk, had dinner and rested until the next day, New Years Eve.
On New Years Eve, we went to the secret spa hot tubs in Rotorua. It is a bit like the Onsen Hot Pool in Queenstown, except that the scenery is much different - this time, it is surrounded by trees and bushes - and unlike Onsen Hot Pools, unfortunately, we were not allowed to bring snacks into the pools! We spent an hour in the pool. The scenery was lovely and it was an enjoyable experience.
âLater that evening, we dressed up for a special New Year's Eve dinner, then we headed to a restaurant near the lake, where we had a three course menu and a cocktail. The food was nice, and so was the drink. Unfortunately, however, due to the ongoing pandemic and the Delta outbreak, the glo festival and the fireworks were âcancelled. So we went for a walk, went back and stayed up instead to watch the Auckland New Year's Eve live coverage to celebrate the New Year at midnight (Auckland had fireworks, luckily). After midnight, we slept and got ready for the next day.
On the final day in Rotorua, we went to Orakei Korako geothermal park and cave. This geothermal park sits on the banks of the Waikato River. We had to get across by boat to access the cave. The geysers were beautiful, with pink terraces and were quite colorful and were very pretty to look at. The pools are very clear to look at - but, they are very hot (despite its close location to the river)! It was about a 2 hour walk in total and the weather was perfect that day although it was very hot. After that, we had lunch, swam at the lake, than had dinner, then got ready to go to Taupo.
We then went from Rotorua to Taupo. On the way, I went on the Huka Falls jet , which does a 30 minute trip of the Waikato River, which was really enjoyable and fun (we also got to see the Huka Falls). The The jet boat did exhilarating thrill spins, and the views were spectacular. Oh, and I also got wet! After that, we went to the Prawn Park for lunch. The prawns were very fresh, and the chowder was delicious. After we checked in and rested, we swam in the lake. We went out for dinner, then went back early so we could get ready for the next day.
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âOn the next day, I went bungy jumping at Taupo Bungy (which is also operated now by AJ Hackett following a takeover of the site). The bungy jump was 47 meters high, laying above the Waikato River. I tried to record the bungy jump on my action camera - but failed at doing so hilariously as the video did not come out good at all! After the bungy, we had lunch, rested and The next day we went to craters of the moon, where we did a 1 and a half hour walk, and we got to see the crater like geysers (hence the name). It was a nice day, although the weather was incredibly hot. The geysers were impressive to look at. Later that day, I went parasailing. It was really fun and I got incredible views of lake Taupo and the city itself, but unfortunately I wasn't allowed to bring my own action camera on with me! And as I forgot to get the photo/video package, we have no photos or videos of this experience unfortunately. We then had dinner early, then slept to get ready to go to Tauranga the next day.
We left Taupo and headed straight for Tauranga via Rotorua. It was the final stop of our destination. We had lunch, checked in and walked around Mt Manganui. Then we swam at the beach next to the mount. It was also the final full day of our trip. Then we went straight for dinner, at Mt Manganui. We packed up, after dinner, ready to go home on the next day.
The next day, we left Tauranga to go home, slowly making our way back along the Pacific Highway Coast. We stopped at Karangahake gorge, to have a bit of a walk and a look around of the historic mining area. After that, we went to Paeroa to have lunch, and finally making our way back home after a long, ten day but a good trip. And it was lucky that we avoided the traffic jams, best of all!
Photo on blog cover by Tyler Lastovich on Unsplash
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AuthorI am Natalie Dunn. I am a feminist who believes in gender equality and rights for everyone. I have many passions in life such as fashion, beauty, adventures and travelling. Archives
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