We left Wellington by 7am. After all we had about 450+ kms to go by road today.
While Wellington had an escalated 6 lane highway, most other road was just the usual 2 lane. Today is also the last day of holidays in NZ and therefore we saw traffic on the roads for the first time!! Traffic yes but still covered the first 190kms in 2 hours. A quick coffee, finished our packed omelettes and petrol for the car and the next leg to Taupo began. We got to the town by 1230 or so and for a change chose an Indian restaurant for lunch. It was rated as number 1 by TripAdvisor and it was good.
We walked around the lake Taupo, a volcanic Calderon. It was a beautiful day and people were having fun on the river side....finding parking was a nightmare.
Our next stop was Wai-O-Tapu, a thermal wonderland. We spent almost 2 hours walking around this geothermal attraction. So colourful with the pungent smell of Hydrogen Sulphide filling the air. Awesome place.
After checking into our hotel, we had to check out the 23 suspension bridges across 120 year old redwood trees. We went at 8:30 pm and it was raining but soon stopped.
We had the advantage of seeing the trees at daylight and walking high at night. It was an amazing experience again. In a world so much at war with nature, here's a country that embraces it at every opportunity. #fullypackedday