Taupo

Before we begin, I know I mentioned at the end of the last blog that we were headed to Rotorua, but seeing as how we didn't really experience much of what makes Rotorua special just yet, I decided to save the blog for after we return there with Megan to give it its fair shake.  So let's continue…

Taupo is one of New Zealand's premier domestic holiday destinations.  Located at the geographic center of the North Island, at an altitude of 2000 feet, it is the largest freshwater lake in the Australia/New Zealand region.  You'd never know it from the surface, but the lake is actually a crater lake sitting on top of one of the Earth's few super-volcanos.  Ironically, it is this foreboding character that makes Taupo such an attractive holiday destination.  It is blessed with numerous natural hot springs and geothermal activity, along with some beautiful rivers and man made wonders.  The town itself is much bigger than one would expect given the population of the city (about 30,000 give or take).  We were told by a local that the population swells by about 3 times during the peak season.   

One of the first things we checked out was the main attraction on the international tourist agenda - Huka Falls.  This man made falls along the Waikato River is impressive due to the sheer volume of water swelling through the small floodway.  Staring at it gives you a real sense of the overwhelming power of it.  Another special feature of Huka Falls is the milky blue color of the water. It's as if it the water has some source of power all its own generating an alien like inner glow.

The second big man made attraction is called Aratiatia Rapids.  After damming up a river, the kiwi engineers created a rocky chute just downstream from the dam.  A few times a day, the dam is opened up and a torrent of water quickly floods the upper stream and turns the rock chute into wild churning rapids of doom.  Very cool to watch the river transform from a babbling brook to a raging beast.

By far the coolest thing we did in the area, however, was getting out onto the lake in a kayak.  At this time of the year the lake is quite warm and, of course, completely translucent like all water in NZ seems to be.  Kayleigh may have found a new love for the sport, as the kayak we rented was fantastic and we were skiing across the water like those little bugs. 

Our guide told us as we went along about the Maori legends regarding the discovery of the lake, it's origins, and origins of the surrounding landscape as well.  The wind picked up about halfway and we had to fight the waves, but it all culminated when we reached our destination at the Maori rock carvings some 4km from where we began.

Created in the 1980's by a pair of Maori carvers, what makes them special is the medium.  Maoris are master carvers when it comes to working with wood, but stone is a whole different story.  She explained that in Maori culture, the final test for young apprentices to become master carvers is to create a masterpiece.  So these two set out to do just that, and once they found a suitable spot on the shores of Lake Taupo, they flew in a Scottish stone carver in order to get the Celtic expertise on just how to go about making their masterpiece in stone.  Four years later and voila! A beautiful masterpiece carved into the sheer cliff face to be enjoyed by all for generations and generations.