Day 18: How many points for a poodle?

We woke at Reid's Farm this morning to find even more cars and vans had squeezed on the site during the night, making it extremely busy and yet it was a very quiet night.  After breakfast we moved Oscar the Van downriver to Huka Falls and set off from there on the bikes on a really enjoyable trail, a circular route to the dam and Aratiatia Rapids.  The track was hairy in places but generally fun with changes of terrain through the forest and then out through fields where we disturbed clouds of white butterflies, possibly cabbage whites.

We reached the dam just before 10am and climbed up to the lookout from where we could look down on a 'staircase' of beautiful deep blue/green pools going down into the Gorge.  At 10 o'clock a warning klaxon sounded and water was released from the dam to cascade into the gorge.

In turn each pool became a boiling, rushing, turquoise foam which created dramatic waterfalls as the current fell from one pool down in to the next and finally past the power station and on in to the river to provide great rapids for the jet boat tours.

From there we crossed the dam and picked up the bike track to take us back to Oscar the van at Huka Falls. The trail on this side was quite different, easier riding with the first section being through an open area lined with plants and wildflowers where more clouds of butterflies flew up in front and around us.

Further on we passed through a geo-thermal area, riding across and alongside a pretty stream of hot water and coloured a beautiful light turquoise colour.  Back home it would have all been fenced off with warning signs all over!

Just before we reached Huka, we stopped at the Hub Cafe for a bite to eat (spicy plum tart and ice cream for me, yum!)  We have not yet been disappointed with the cafe food, both the sweet and savoury snacks have been top quality and reasonably priced and my daily mocha has been excellent everywhere we have been.

We stopped in Taupo to refuel and then set off on the next leg of our journey south to Tongariro National Park.  Lake Taupo was beautiful with the blue sky (unexpected today) deepening the colour of this vast lake.  Our road pretty much hugged the east side most of the way which made for superb views.  We stopped for lunch at the Hungry Trout at Te Rangieta and managed to pick up an extra adaptor from the adjoining shop which was one of those places which sells everything.  Again the food was well cooked - Tony had a BLT which came with a huge bowl of chips and I had a ham croissant.

Once we reached the southern end of Lake Taupo we passed by Turangi and began the ascent in to Tongariro National Park and mountains.  We stopped briefly at a scenic lookout which gave us a breathtaking view back over Lake Taupo.

Once we had reached the top of this ascent, the flanks of Mt Te Mahi came in to view with the hot springs venting in to the air, wow!  We descended to Lake Rotaira and then back up again to reach our destination, the wild campsite at Te Porere, a Maori site which marks the scene of a major land battle.

There is a pretty path leading from the carpark which visits the scenes of two redoubts, the trenches of which can still be seen.

We were alone on this site for a couple of hours, then three young Japanese men arrived to stay.  I had made too much dinner so we shared it with them.  Now it's an early start tomorrow so time for bed!  If you are planning on doing the Tongariro Crossing then this is an excellent overnight stop the day before as the Ketetahi Carpark is only fifteen minutes down the road.