It’s going to be a long day. On the schedule for today is a hike in the Tongariro region around Taranaki Falls. After, we will drive a few hours to Wellington. Sadly, It’s also going to be our last full day with Suzy.
Lake Taupo
After leaving our Rotorua AirBnB, we hopped in our car and started the 2 hour drive to Tongariro National Park. This stretch of road is lovely as part of it takes you along the shores of Lake Taupo. In fact, at one point we decided to stop and take a quick walk along the beach just take it all in!
I’d like to say that the whole drive was fine. But after driving through a few road construction sites, we started to notice some rattling in our rental car’s wheel. We had to pull over for a bit and call roadside assistance. We spent some time troubleshooting the car and determined that there wasn’t anything too serious. While it’s not the end of the world, we did have the longest drive of our trip so far and wanted to be sure that we’d make it there in one piece! Thankfully all was in order and when we got back on the road the rattling was gone. The three of us concluded that there was some weird gravel that got into the wheel well and jogged free when we stopped.
Tongariro National Park
Without much more fanfare we arrived at Whakapapa which is a small town which looks to be the trail head for many trails in the national park. After parking, we headed to the visitor center to get ourselves orientated. Because we set out after checking out of our airbnb, we didn’t have anything to eat until now. I was getting pretty hungry so I started looking for anything to stop the belly growls! I found a small food truck serving various lunch items and I ended up ordering a corn dog just to satisfy the hunger a little.
Taranaki Falls Trail
With some food in our bellies, We set out on the Taranaki Falls Trail. The trail is a 6 kilometer loop with an upper and lower half. We chose to start on the upper trail. I’m glad we did because the views along the path are spectacular. The walk itself is not very challenging so anyone can do it.
The rolling hills and flat lands of Tongariro National Park really provide a stunning landscape for the walk. I really enjoyed taking it all in and reveling in the natural beauty that New Zealand has to offer!
Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount doom)
As you make your way on the trail, on the horizon a large mountain breaks up the horizon. This is Mount Ngauruhoe. Or to Lord of the Rings Fans: Mount Doom. So while the trail itself is already lovely, having “Mount Doom” in the backdrop makes the walking all the more enjoyable.
Taranaki Falls
After about an hour and a half of walking we finally arrive at Taranaki Falls! Its a lovely little waterfall that pours over a rock face into a shallow pool at the bottom. One of the cool things is you have the change to walk around the back and see the waterfall from behind which we did!
We spent some time enjoying the cool mist coming off the waterfall and taking it in before making the return trip via the lower part of the loop. Throughout our trip Gimpy has been admiring these fluffy feather like plants since we arrived on New Zealand. On this walk she finally plucked one out and enjoyed carrying it around with her for a good part of the walk!
Ohakune Carrot
With the hike behind us, we settled into the car for the four hour drive to Wellington. Although, it didn’t take long until we spotted something that forced us to stop, a HUGE carrot. Normally we wouldn’t stop for such things but years ago my sister came to New Zealand and stayed in this town that is reputed to have the world’s “largest” carrot. Gimpy remembered reading about it in my sister’s blog. And so we stopped to take a quick photo and send it to her!
Kiwi Burger
After taking pictures of the carrot, we hopped into the car and continued our drive to Wellington. Obviously by now the three of us hadn’t had a lot of food to sustain us so we stopped off at a nearby MacDonalds for a meal. I normally try to visit a MacDonald’s at least once during my visits to another country. I also always try to find something that I’m not able to get at home. In this case it was the Kiwi Burger. Its the first time I’ve seen beetroot in a burger and to be honest, I’m not mad at it! It adds some extra crunch and a different sauciness to the burger!
Drive to Wellington
With full Tummies we hunkered down and drove straight to Wellington. The drive was relatively uneventful, and we were treated to a lovely sunset against golden hills.
Oddly enough, once the sun set and it was dark, we noticed during a few points our car became a magnet for insects! At first we didn’t think anything of it but we started to hear a lot of little clicks against our windshield. Then as we drove they started hitting with more ferocity. Its not like we’re not used to seeing bugs hit our windshield, but the sounds they made indicated these were larger than normal bugs and at some points there were A LOT of them. I tried to take a video of it, but you might have to turn your volume up to hear them hitting the windshield.
When we eventually stopped at a gas station, we were able to survey the aftermath.
Past that there wasn’t anything else too eventful on our drive. We arrived at our airbnb late in the evening and quickly washed up and ready for bed. Suzy needed to do a little packing because unfortunately, he would be leaving us tomorrow. Meanwhile, Gimpy and I would be flying to the South Island and continuing our trip so its a little bittersweet.
Fluff fluffs!!!!! I almost forgot about the buggies hitting our windshield! It really sounded like it was raining outside. That might’ve been one of the more exciting things that happened on that long drive to Wellington.