Hot pools also exist in Taupo - it seems like all of the central part of the North Island is on a volcanic fault line - so we started our day with an early morning dip in more hot pools. Well, again, it was more like a hot stream. We were sitting in about 4 inches of water and from one side it was coming in hot, hot, hot, and the other side was cold, cold, cold. It's so weird but totally awesome. You just have to keep moving as the currents change, because sometimes that cold water sneakers right up, and you're scurrying into the hot water to stay warm.
The day's plan was to drive from Taupo to New Plymouth, and while the drive took a little longer than expected, the views made it all worth it. Taupo sits at the base of mountains Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, located in the
Tongariro National Park. We skirted those mountains via the Forgotten Highway (a portion of which is still unpaved!), a curvy, curvy, curvy road that is so scenic you think you must have stumbled into a movie.
At the end of the Forgotten Highway, you get your first views of Mount Taranaki, a beautiful mountain that sits right out on the west coast of the North Island. New Plymouth sits on the western side of Mount Taranaki and right on the Tasman Sea.
After checking into our kickass backpackers,
Seaspray House, we headed right for one of New Plymouth's black sand beaches. Jim and I rode some waves. Katie and Mijin took a walk, and Vanessa, Graham, and Todd played some beach cricket.
Again, due to the late sunset, we didn't head home from the beach until 8pm and enjoyed a late dinner at a yummy Indian restuarant in downtown New Plymouth. After dinner, we headed over to Pukekura Park to catch a bit of the Taranaki Festival of Lights before it shut down for the evening. The park is turned into a wonderland of lights for six weeks in December and January. We weren't able to see much before they closed the gates, but what we saw was kinda cool.
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| picture courtesy of K. Hershey |
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| picture courtesy of K. Hershey |
Hot pools also exist in Taupo - it seems like all of the central part of the North Island is on a volcanic fault line - so we started our day with an early morning dip in more hot pools. Well, again, it was more like a hot stream. We were sitting in about 4 inches of water and from one side it was coming in hot, hot, hot, and the other side was cold, cold, cold. It's so weird but totally awesome. You just have to keep moving as the currents change, because sometimes that cold water sneakers right up, and you're scurrying into the hot water to stay warm.
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