The beach outside of our cabin is beautiful. It is so long stretching overt 10 km all the way to Mount Maunganui.
This Maori carving is outside one of the local schools. Many of the schools have beautiful carvings, mosaics or paintins.
Along the roads there are lots of Kiwis growing.
Taupo, Huku Falls, Crater of the Moon, Hydro Dam
Sunday Dec 6th, 2009
We are off to find the falls. It is a short drive out of town to the walking bridge over the river. The water flows down a deep gorge about 15 m wide and 10 m deep. From the bridge you can see up and down the Waikato River. The water is tea
l and very clear. It is hard to believe that kayakers ever used this river… in fact nine have successfully run the river and over the falls. The drop is not extreme; it is the volume of water channeling through this narrow canyon that makes it a beautiful falls. The trail continues down to
the falls where we stop to watch this surging blue mass as it spills out into the lower river. What an am
azing sight.
Further down the river is one of the control dams for the massive hydro electric, Wesystem. It is the largest in New Zealand, generating 65% of the north island
s electricity. Further down river a hydroelectric generating station provides electricity to the people of NZ. We plan on arriving in time to see the flood gates open at 4 pm.
Next we sto
p at the upper lookout. The upper lookout is also very beautiful, giving you a bird’s eye view of the falls and the teal blue colour of the water. We chat with a couple from Israel as they too have stopped to see the falls. As we are talking, the Huka Falls jet boat speeds up the river and we get to see it going through the rapids at the bottom of the falls.
An
other intere
sting stop is the Crater of the Moon. This is a volc
anic valley that includes a walkway past gueisers and volcanic rock. The whole area looks like a crater. The walk is nice and level as the trail has been developed as a wooden path. It le
ads past many deep holes, craters, with specific viewing platforms into some of them. We take the upper trail to see the whole valley. It is a bit unsettling as you realize there is lava closer to the surface here.
We arrive at the flood gates on the Waikato River with plenty of time to hike down th
e trail and view the river from different vantage
points. There is only a trickle of water in the river at the moment. When the gates opened it fills up quickly rising 3 meters. They give a few warning sirens to let people know, in case they are hiking on the river bed, to get out. The speed that the water flowed down the river would wash anything away.
Sunday Dec 6th, 2009
We are off to find the falls. It is a short drive out of town to the walking bridge over the river. The water flows down a deep gorge about 15 m wide and 10 m deep. From the bridge you can see up and down the Waikato River. The water is tea
l and very clear. It is hard to believe that kayakers ever used this river… in fact nine have successfully run the river and over the falls. The drop is not extreme; it is the volume of water channeling through this narrow canyon that makes it a beautiful falls. The trail continues down to
the falls where we stop to watch this surging blue mass as it spills out into the lower river. What an am
azing sight.Further down the river is one of the control dams for the massive hydro electric, Wesystem. It is the largest in New Zealand, generating 65% of the north island
s electricity. Further down river a hydroelectric generating station provides electricity to the people of NZ. We plan on arriving in time to see the flood gates open at 4 pm.Next we sto
p at the upper lookout. The upper lookout is also very beautiful, giving you a bird’s eye view of the falls and the teal blue colour of the water. We chat with a couple from Israel as they too have stopped to see the falls. As we are talking, the Huka Falls jet boat speeds up the river and we get to see it going through the rapids at the bottom of the falls.An
other intere
sting stop is the Crater of the Moon. This is a volc
anic valley that includes a walkway past gueisers and volcanic rock. The whole area looks like a crater. The walk is nice and level as the trail has been developed as a wooden path. It le
ads past many deep holes, craters, with specific viewing platforms into some of them. We take the upper trail to see the whole valley. It is a bit unsettling as you realize there is lava closer to the surface here.
We arrive at the flood gates on the Waikato River with plenty of time to hike down th
e trail and view the river from different vantage
points. There is only a trickle of water in the river at the moment. When the gates opened it fills up quickly rising 3 meters. They give a few warning sirens to let people know, in case they are hiking on the river bed, to get out. The speed that the water flowed down the river would wash anything away.
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