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    Crazy, Crazy Taupo

    • stomps from Houston
    • April 11, 2006
    I caught one *this* big!More Photos
    Taupo, a bustling little town on the shores of Lake Taupo, is one of the major destinations of the North Island. It seems to get passed over when people talk about the whole of New Zealand, since destinations in the South Island tend to be favored, but I think this is a grave mistake. I spent nearly 4 days in Taupo and the surrounding areas, and absolutely loved every minute of it.

    It is extremely difficult to get bored in Taupo, just because of the sheer number of options you have at your disposal. The lake is well known for its brown and rainbow trout, and is said to be one of the top fishing areas in the world--when I told my dad, just for this he said he wanted to move here! If you're not such a fisherman, there are many hikes around Taupo that could keep you busy for weeks--which could be useful if you're waiting for the weather to clear up on the main hike in the area, the Tongariro Crossing. And for the adventure-minded, Taupo offers nearly everything that the "adventure capital," Queenstown, offers, and most of the time, for half the price of Queenstown.

    You can do the Huka Jet, which is a jetboat ride where you go speeding up the Waikato River, entirely too close to any walls in sight, up to the base of Huka Falls. Huka is amazing when seen from dry land, so imagine the feeling of sitting nearly underneath it! You can also do the Taupo Bungy and dip your head into the Waikato. I believe this is at least $40 cheaper than its Queenstown equivalent. The main attraction of Taupo is its incredibly cheap (but don't worry, still very safe!) skydiving. There are three companies participating in a price war, which makes the price almost exactly half of what it would be in Queenstown. And of course, being on a lake, there are water sports galore.

    I really recommend spending at least a few days in Taupo so you can get a taste of what it has to offer. This place was definitely the highlight of my second trip to New Zealand, and the one I most often talk about returning to.${QuickSuggestions} There are so many things to see and do in Taupo that I can't single out any one or two things to give tips on. Be active while you are here and take advantage of everything the town has to offer, or else you'll be sad you didn't when you leave! If you're on a budget, there are plenty of cheaper activities (hikes are generally free, although Tongariro is a cheap $35 for an entire day's walk) as well, although I would advise splurging on at least one thing if you can!

    The Taupo I-Site is great, and located on the main street (Tongariro Street) in town. You can book adventures here, or many other individual stores on the opposite side of the road. As with most activities, I recommend booking at least the morning of the day you would like to go, rather than simply walking in and expecting to be put on a trip. This applies for everything except skydiving and the Tongariro Crossing. I signed up for skydiving 2 days in advance--the early bird specials fill up particularly fast. Since they only have a certain number of planes, there's only so much capacity they can fill!

    The Tongariro Crossing is an entity on its own. You need to find out about the Crossing the minute you get into town--most places have a weather report for the next day or two at the desk. When I arrived in Taupo on Tuesday, I was told that the weather wasn't going to clear up until at least Friday, and luckily it did, since that was my last day there. You need to make all your bookings around when the Crossing is clear, although they cannot tell you more than a day ahead whether the Crossing will be open, and even then, it could get closed the morning of your trip. But, you need to book whenever you hear it is clear, because the buses will fill up as well, and the Crossing could be closed every other day you are there.${BestWay} Taupo is a relatively small place. There is no reason to do anything but walk from anywhere in town, unless you are travelling late at night. The bus service between Auckland and Wellington comes in at 1am, which is the bus that I caught. I was advised, since it was a Friday night, to take a taxi from the hostel to the bus station, since there are many pubs in town and my hostel owner did not want me accosted by drunks. This, when I got a ride to Craters of the Moon, which is a good few kilometers out of town, and when I was participating in any booked activities, were the only times I really needed to get a ride somewhere. All of the activities I booked included transportation to and from the site in their price.

    Getting into and out of Taupo itself is relatively easy as well. Taupo has an airport, but it is not very big and is mostly used for skydiving planes. However, if you are willing to pay a bit of a price, you can get a commercial flight in here. The major bus lines all run through Taupo, and I'm not sure whether the train does, but it might since it goes from Auckland to Wellington. I took Intercity both into and out of Taupo and had no problems at all--they run several buses a day, so the schedules were pretty flexible. I was even able to catch a 1am bus, which happened to be the cheapest, and I slept until arriving in Wellington, where I had an entire day, rather than part of it due to being on the road for 5 or 6 hours.
    From journal Crazy, Crazy Taupo