Before leaving for the 4-day trip, we’d decided to take two nights in Taupo and one night in Rotorua before spending the last day driving back to Wellington. We had a short list of things that we wanted to do, but with the dire weather forecasts, it seemed as if the outdoor activities were going to have to wait for another trip. In the end, the weather turned out to be mostly fine up until the drive back down. It may have slowed down traffic, but it didn’t stop us from doing anything in particular.

The hostels were booked before we left, based on recommendations from a travel guide. With two nights at Burkes Backpackers and one night at Funky Green Voyager, we were not disappointed at all. The closest thing to a criticism we could come up with was the smell of sulphur around Voyager, but it’s Rotorua, and that smell is nearly everywhere.

We were a little more relaxed about booking activities. With the uncertain weather, we didn’t want to be stuck with a bad choice. The only thing we booked in advance was the Maori cultural show [1]. For everything else, we relied largely on information picked up from the tourist information centres. It’s amazingly clear to see that New Zealand’s tourism industry is in good hands.

Having only one day in Rotorua was quite limiting. There were a lot of things that we could choose from to do, but only time for one. We went to Rainbow Springs to check out the wildlife, including a live kiwi.

The drive back was largely uneventful. It took a hellishly long time, but cost us little more than time. We were back in Wellington around 5pm, back to regular lives and crappy spring weather, looking forward to the next chance to take a long weekend away. It’s almost funny that it’s taken me over 4 years to get around to doing this stuff.

¹ It turned out to be a hugely popular show, and all 4 buses that traveled to the village were fully booked.

Highlights

• There’s a kick-ass playground in Levin. I never would have guessed how many times I could end up on my ass in a single go.
• Gravity Canyon—We could have done more thrilling stuff there, but I got some amazing pictures from a chair ride that went down 80m from the bridge to the canyon floor.
• The walk from the edge of Taupo out to Huka Falls. There is a warm spring just at the start of the trail that seems to be very popular with people with a bit of time to soak in the setting sun.
• For a longer soak, the Taupo Hot Springs leaves little to be desired.
• There is a strip of geothermal parks along the way from Taupo to Rotorua. Orakei Korako stood out above the others that we visited.