Lake Taupo & Three men inna tub

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 19.0px; font: 13.0px Georgia} span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px}by Bruce

Location: Wellington en route to Lake Taupo, NZ

Traveling with father and son now,  it’s a lot easier when I’m behind the wheel because I have something to hold onto.  We passed those few days in Wellington getting reacquainted with our friends at Coffee Supreme and Sweet Mother’s Kitchen.  We even stopped at Fidel’s for breakfast but it was jam packed with hungry cool kids, so we opted for coffee and eats to go.  The baked goods on display in the case looked especially mouth-watering.  Muffins looked moist and delicious.  Berry scones looked pillowy soft. I could have easily crammed a scone down my throat while we waited.  The line was out the door and made it near impossible for the servers to get by.  Its too bad that you’ve got to wait in the queue to get a table.  When space is limited like it is in there, a sign-up sheet or number system might be more effective, and the already annoyed looking staff wouldn’t have to squeeze through the impatient crowd.

From Wellington, we pushed  north to Lake Taupo which is a volcanic crater lake the size of Singapore. It rests at the top of the central North Island plateau, surrounded by active volcanoes and feeds the water supply for the main north island rivers which flow to the sea. Harry and I bypassed it on our way down but couldn’t afford to miss it on the way back.  We were told that the view was impressive and that the hot water springs were amazing as well.  Had we sipped on our complimentary cup of coffee in Wellington any longer we would’ve surely missed the sunset.  The setting sun was fiery orange.  I hope the pictures we got did it justice.

Accommodation around the lake, especially in late fall, is plentiful.  It felt empty in fact. To our advantage, we got a great deal.  We booked a 2 room motel, complete with kitchen and its own outdoor hot water jacuzzi for under $150 Kiwi dollars/nt.  Judging from the rows of hotels and motels, it looks like it gets quite hectic in the summer.  On a side note, something else worth checking out is the vintage airplane at the Mcdonalds in the town center.