Taupo (TAO-poh) is the largest lake in New Zealand, and there is contradictory data on its actual depth. Wikipedia lists it as 186 meters (610+ feet), but the locals dispute this vigorously. Even the military has tried to make a determination using sonar buoys, and their results were inconclusive. Hmm, sounds like someone needs to upgrade their equipment.
I took a long video of the Lady Knox Geyser erupting, and we stopped to see more mud pools on the way to Taupo. We also stopped to let passengers try a ropes course and bungy jumping.
Note the people "tubing" the river.
The highlight of this stopover was to be the Tongariro Crossing - described as the best one-day walk in New Zealand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongariro_Crossing. Well, the weather forecast was for lifting clouds, but they never did. The next day started out cloudy, cleared a bit over the mounatins, but then clouded over rather quickly again. This region could really use some rain - as does most of New Zealand's North Island (not to mention Australia), and it could have been worse for us on the trail. As it was, it was 50 degrees and windy, but it never rained.
Mt. Ngauruhoe (Nar-uh-HOO-ee) is climbable, if you enjoy 1.5 - 2 hours of scree (knee-deep small rock & dust). It was Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It would have been great to climb it, but those who did didn't see anything, anyway and got really cold.
One highlight of the walk is tramping across a huge crater. Looking closely, you can make out the track. Way cool.
The edge of the red crater.
A glimpse of the Blue Lake on the way down to the Emerald Lakes. Acidic, but quite beautiful - like liquid jewels.
Looking back, at a lava flow.
On the way down, we passed the runoff from a hot spring. Once again, it helped us to realize how vulnerable the terrain was over which we were walking.
One of the reasons that the Tongariro Crossing is regarded so highly is views like these on the way down.
Why you hope that Ruapehu and the other more dormant volcanoes don't wake up while you're tramping or camping.
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