Road Trip

During the kids' spring holiday from school we took our first family road trip outside of Wellington. We drove 5 hours north of us to Taupo (pronounced toe pour). It's New Zealand's largest lake. On the way there we saw our first sheep. I was so excited. Everyone talks about how many sheep there are here and that there are more sheep then humans. But since being here and living near the city in the suburbs I haven't seen one. But that all changed. Because they keep the sheep in the country. And man, we saw a lot of them. And cow and a few horses too.

We drove through a few cute country towns. And got yummy food at Soul Cafe in Taihape. Not only does that town have delicious food, but it's also the gumboot capital of NZ.

Taihape, Gumboot capital of NZ. 

I was surprised by the landscape around Tongariro National Park. It was the first time I saw desert-like surrounds in NZ. Sadly, it reminded me of the high deserts of Nevada, my least favourite area to drove through. But, from that area we could see the snow-covered volcanoes of Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings), and Tongariro.

Too desert for my likings

At Taupo we stayed at a nice Air B&B for three nights. We walked through the Craters of the Moon Geothermal Park. It reminded me of Yellowstone only much smaller, far less people and not so stinky. We walked on a boardwalk through steaming craters and bubbling mud pots. Even with rain it was very enjoyable.

DANGER, these girls are on fire!

We also drove to the rapids flowing from Aratiatia Dam. They release water from the dam a few times a day. We missed the dam opening by 3 minutes. But we were still there to see the gorge full of white rapids. We were the only ones who stayed long enough to see the dam shut and all the water flow down the gorge leaving a small stream again. Then we drove further up the Waikato River to see Huka Falls.

On one day we drove and hour and a half to Matamata to see the Hobbiton movie set. It was so cute and quaint. We enjoyed a 2 hour walking tour through the shire which ended with drinks at the Green Dragon. There our kids humoured us and put on Hobbit costumes and posed for a picture. I am tempted to use it as our family Christmas card pic.

Spring with the blossoms was the perfect time to visit Hobbiton

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..."

Lucy is the perfect size to be a hobbit.

I'm too tall. 

Samwise Gamgee's hole.

The Green Dragon

Would you like some ginger beer? Sorry, not butter beer. 

On another day we took a steam boat to sail to see the Maori rock carvings. The captain even let Lucy steer the boat. The carvings are really fantastic. And it's so touching to here the story behind the carvings. The carvings are all about respect and honour for their ancestors.

Maori Rock Carvings

Our boat was a replicate 1920's steam boat. 

Taupo is known for its geothermal hot springs. We went to Spa Park and waded in the hot springs flowing into the Waikato River. The pools are hot and rocky. Next time I am wearing water socks. It was really fun. We didn't bring our cameras. So, sadly no pictures.

On Sunday we went to church at the Taupo Ward. It's nice to always be able to find a group of fellow saints to meet with. Then we drove home. We stayed entertained through the car ride with listening to a lot of the kids pod casts like Six Minutes. We felt like it was a highly successful road trip. Looking forward to our next one, Hamilton just after Christmas to see the Christmas lights around the Hamilton Temple.