Taupo, New Zealand (North Island)

One of the destinations I was planning to stop in while exploring the North Island in New Zealand is Taupo.

Taupo is a town near the centre of New Zealand’s North Island, is distinguished by its lakefront setting and outdoor sports ranging from fishing to jet-boating. The vast waters of Lake Taupo, a volcanic caldera, drain into the Huka Falls, dramatic, crystal-blue cascades reachable by hiking and biking trails. Surrounding Taupo are hot springs like those filling the Craters of the Moon reserve. [Wikipedia]

Heads up, I visited at the end of winter and start of summer (in November), everything in North Island shuts down around 5 PM including some cafes. Restaurants open at 5 PM.

Things to do in Taupo:

• Checkout Huka Falls! Reaching Huka Falls is easy, the options to see the falls are either a hike for around 1 hour, so be prepared with your shoes and bottle of water, if you prefer not to hike and you weren’t ready, take a scenic helicopter ride for 10 minutes to see the area from above! The cost is 99 dollars and it goes up depending on how long/how much you’d like to see. The third option is to take a Jet Boat in the river/around the falls! For the adventure seekers, this is a great option! – rapids jet.com
• Lake Taupo
  • Sailing to Maori Rock
  • Kayaking & Fishing / Maori Rock
  • Cruise to Maori Rock
  • Parasailing
• Tandem Skydiving Taupo
• Prawn Park – Fish for prawns, see prawns and eat prawns!
• Huka Honey experience – If you like bees, this is a good experience I assume! (closes at 5 PM)
• Bungy Jump (with water touch!) – taupobungy.com
• Thermal Safari/includes natural hot springs swimming- or it was also called “The Squeeze” (2.5-3 hour adventure, starts 11 am and 2 pm daily)
• Volcanic Walks – Whakapapa
• Go to and hike in the Tongariro National Park and do the crossing!

Restaurants to Checkout:

• The Vine
• Osteria (Italian)
• The Plateau
• The Bistro
• Brantry

After Taupo, we returned the car to the Taupo Airport and took a flight to Auckland since that was the last stop on my list!

And finally before I end this post, I wanted to mention where I stayed! We booked at a bed & breakfast called Serenity on Wakeman; its super lovely! The house is owned by an amazing lady, super hospitable and the rooms are all overlooking the lake! Absolutely stunning place.

Hope this helped!

Hello965