Taupo - Turangi

On Wednesday 23.11, we made a stop at Rainbow Mountain on our way to Taupo. The track up was marked as 'Advanced', so it wasn't really suitable for me, but oh well. The beginning was quite easy, although the sun was burning on my head. The last 20 minutes of the 1.5-hour track were rather difficult, the path became very uneven and steeper.

Once we got to the top, we enjoyed the view over fields and hills and had breakfast again.

Going down only took us 50 minutes. The muscle soreness the next day was already predictable.

Upon arriving in Taupo, we visited the Aratiatia Dam & Rapids (a river and dam that is flooded every 4 hours). Then we went to the swimming pool for $8.

In the evening, we drove to a free campsite (Reids Farm near Huka Falls, right on a river), where we met Cynthia, Marlene, Aylina, Inga, Nik & Nicklas.

After setting up everything, we went over to the others and chatted before we started cooking.

However, the atmosphere at the campsite was rather somber, as a drunk Frenchman was carried away by the river and had not been found yet (at that time, until the next morning).

On Thursday, we went back to Taupo and I took a 5-minute warm shower for $2.50 at a public facility (most free campsites usually only have dry toilets and no running water, except for the nearby river/lake or stream).

We also went to Huka Falls and did some shopping in the afternoon before heading to the free Waikoko campsite. We passed by Lake Taupo, which was absolutely calm and beautiful in the good weather.

On Friday, we went back to Turangi. Since the weather was so bad and it was raining, we went to the hostel (Extreme Backpackers) where we met Lena and Sabrina (whom we knew from Auckland & Paihia).

We spent the day at the hostel, made vegan pasta salad, and chatted with the others.

Next, we will be heading towards the Forgotten World Highway and to the Republic of Whangamomona.