My 2014 Adventure: Travels to Singapore, Australia & New Zealand: Tauranga & Taupo (Part I)

These past couple of days Mariel and I have spent in Tauranga. The best way I can describe this place is a retirement peninsula with a mountain at the end. There are so many elderly people walking at the beach and even scaling Mt Maunganui. Mt Maunganui is a town next to Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty (I love that name). Mt Maunganui is now an extinct volcano cone. It was an intense climb up to the summit with both stone and gravel steps. Once you get to the top you have fantastic views of the light blue ocean water, the peninsula the town sits on, and beaches as far as the eye can see. We had lunch at the top and were only harassed by one herring gull. It's creepy that the New Zealand birds are always watching you, sizing up your meal and sometimes I think the people too. We then climbed back down the mountain and had a swim at the beach. It was very windy so no one else was in the water. After getting the go ahead from the Surf Life Saving NZ guys we got into the waves. It was so fun to swim out and let the waves carry you back to shore. In the afternoon we hiked around the peninsula some more, did a historic walking tour of Tauranga, and then went to see a movie (12 Years A Slave).

It was a quick trip to Tauranga, and this morning Mariel and I hopped on a bus to Taupo. It is beautiful here!! It is home to Mt Ngauruhoe, which was used as Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings films. There are a few other mountains in the distance in the Tongariro volcanic complex. All of these are framed with Lake Taupo in the foreground for a very picturesque setting. Since I'm not a very experienced climber, Mariel and I are taking it easy here. We arrived in Taupo in the afternoon and took a hike to see Huka Falls. The Waikato River was a beautiful, crystal blue color; we took a swim much further up from the falls (I didn't want to get swept away). After dinner we took a walk around Lake Taupo to see the sunset and black swans. Tomorrow we are planning to rent bikes and ride around the lake. There are some geothermal hot springs in this area so hopefully we can find those and take a dip!