Lake Taupo, New friends

Lake Taupo

This past weekend, we traveled to Lake Taupo on the central plains of the north island.  We drove across the island on the Forgotten World Highway and came back on State Highway 1.  I recommend using Highway 1, unless you're into 150 km of switchbacks.  There was some nice scenery along the way, but I didn't see much of it as I squeezed the gray juice out of the steering wheel. 

Actually, the driving wasn't that bad, but sitting through it in the back seat made the kids queasy.  Our kids have never blinked at the roughest rides in our Arrow, but a few hours zig-zagging at 40 kph almost put them over the edge.

Mt Ruapeho and Ngauruhoe

We picked up a place to stay in Taupo via AirBnB and our hosts and new found friends were the highlight of the trip.  The couple, Gordon and Charmaine, are from South Africa and Zimbabwe and it was a complete delight to hang out with them for the weekend. 

Gordon is an Electrical Engineer and worked on the geothermal plants in the area.  Charmaine works for Nestle.  I'm not quite sure why I seem to hit it off with EE guys.  Gordon told me the geothermal plants in the Taupo area produce a respectable 350 MW of power. 

We've met quite a few South Africans living here.  All those we've talked with left Africa to get away from the terrible crime rates.

Jack on the Dragon Slide

Taupo was a pleasant, touristy city.  The lake is beautiful and somewhat sinister as it covers a huge caldera.  We took a jet boat ride on the river, walked through an active thermal area called Craters of the Moon, visited a glass blowing shop and the DeBretts mineral pools.  And we had some great meals.  Charmaine was kind enough to cook us ribs one night, and being an empty nester, she was eager to spoil our kiddos.  Hopefully, we can get back to see them before our year is up.

Charmaine and Steven playing Scrabble