Taupo and the Tongariro Crossing

So this past weekend I went down south with some friends. Thursday night I went and picked up the car from the rental shop, only to find out it was manual, which led to the next forty five minutes consisting of teaching myself do drive stick, be it left handed, on the streets of Auckland. With that out of the way, it was off to Taupo.

From the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe, looking down towards Mt. Tongariro

The next day we did the Tongariro Crossing, an 18km hike that splits Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt. Tongariro. It's considered the best day hike in New Zealand, and it's hard to argue. My friend and I did a side trail up Mt. Ngauruhoe (2291 m), also known as Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. One of the best parts was making our way down from the summit, where it's small, loose volcanic rock that you can literally run down. There was also some snow on the way down that we did some sledding on. The whole track is filled with volcanic and geothermal features, all offering full ranges of strange colors, leading to an other worldly feel to the land.

Emerald Lakes

Lake Rotoroa, with Lake Taupo behind

The next couple of days were spent exploring the town of Taupo, which sits right on Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ. We checked out Huka Falls, took advantage of some free honey samples at the Honey Hive, did some wine tasting at the local winery, and relaxed in some public thermal pools. It was nice to have a peaceful weekend outside of Auckland, getting on to the track before winter made it impassable and enjoying the last of the fall colors around Taupo.

The vineyard at the Huka Falls Resort