Huka Falls, Aratitia Rapids, and Wanganui

This morning we woke up in Taupo and had a relaxing breakfast looking out over the lake and the mountains. The above picture is looking out from the deck of our hostel. The tallest peak is Mt. Nguowhoare that is a dormant volcano.

We hiked up the Waikato river to reach the Huka falls. "Huka" means "foam" in Maori and it is very aptly named. The Waikato river is the only outlet for Lake Taupo to the sea and therefore has a huge volume of water going through it.

The water flows through a 500m long chute of volcanic rock before dumping out the falls at the back end.

Also, the water in the Waikato is unbelievably clear. It is crystal clear all the way through even though it was flowing really quickly. I am very impressed with the water quality here in NZ.

After we left Taupo we headed south on SH1 and had lunch on the bank of the lake. Very picturesque.

 

Then we made our way to Wanganui, a city on the southwestern coast of the North Island. It was originally the only place where goods could be sent upriver into the mainland so it was a vital port to the settlers and was developed very quickly. Now a days it is a sleepy town beside it's namesake river with a feeling not unlike that of Winona, MN. This town is famous for river craft and glassblowers. We walked up 167 steps to the top of a tower to get a good view of the city and the Tasman Sea beyond.

The light gray horizon beyond the shore is the Sea.

This town also has an incredibly eclectic and fun main street. Called Victoria Street it is lined with shops, cafes, boutiques, and pubs. We walked down along the boardwalk then up Victoria St and back to our hostel this evening.

Tomorrow we are hoping to canoe a bit on the river before we head to Palmerston North to drop off Dana at her College and then Dani and I will head South to Wellington to drop off our car and catch our ferry in the morning. We'll be "couch surfing" with a family that lives just outside of Wellington. Their names are Rob and Shannon and they have two young kids ages 1 and 3. I'm excited to see how that experience turns out! More updates to come as they come up!