Huka Falls and Tongariro National Park

After enjoying a bath in the hot pools of Waikite Valley in the morning of 11.01., we continued our journey around 11:00 a.m. After a short stop for refueling, we drove 55 km south to Huka Falls. This waterfall is particularly spectacular, even though it is only 11m high. It is because here the otherwise up to 100m wide Waikato River (New Zealand's longest river) narrows down to 15m and rushes through a gorge made of hard volcanic rock. The amount of water is gigantic and one can truly witness the power of the roaring water. At the beginning, we stopped at a lookout point and from there we could already see the beautiful turquoise color of the water. Then we went directly to the river and took a short walk to the waterfall. Truly impressive!

Since it was already lunchtime, we had our lunch at a picnic table near the parking lot and afterwards we bought ice cream at the kiosk. They often have these Drumstick ice cream flavors (like our Cornetto) which only costs 2$. Definitely worth treating yourself to an ice cream :D

From Huka Falls, we continued 10 minutes to Taupo, where we also briefly stopped at a lookout point from where we could overlook the city, the lake, and the volcanoes on the horizon. Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand, with Taupo city located at the northern tip and the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park in the south. This national park is the oldest in New Zealand and was handed over to the state by the Maori Chief in 1887. The park is home to 3 very active volcanoes that erupt regularly. Nevertheless, the area is extremely popular for hiking and in winter for skiing and snowboarding.

We made a brief stop in Taupo before continuing into the national park to get a closer look at the lake. Then we continued our journey as we still had 1.5 hours of driving ahead of us. After driving through the breathtaking landscape, we arrived at the small tourist village of Whakapapa, where we gathered information about walks at the Visitor Centre. The loop walk to Taranaki Falls, which was supposed to take 2 hours, appealed to us a lot, so we set off right away. We were really lucky with the weather and could thus admire the full uniqueness of the landscape. Mount Ruapehu, the tallest mountain, still had some snow on top and was impressive to look at. But even otherwise, we really enjoyed the steppe-like landscape with its cooled lava flows, and there were always magnificent views to enjoy. After an hour, we reached Taranaki Falls, which were quite pretty, although not necessarily the highlight of the hike. The return path now led us through dense forests along the water, and we couldn't believe that we were still in the same region.

We were back at the car around half past 5 and drove out of the national park. After a few kilometers, we made dinner in a small park and then drove a good distance. During dinner, the setting sun beautifully illuminated Mount Ruapehu, it looked truly magical. Unfortunately, I couldn't take a photo as there were too many trees and power poles in the way. But during the drive, I was able to take a photo that also includes the moon, giving a hint of how beautiful the scene was earlier.

Andi was still quite energetic, so we were able to cover over 100km before setting up our camp in Mount Lees Reserve. The next day, we would head to Wellington.