Walking in New Zealand: Taupo Turangi

Lake Taupo appears as a large inland sea whose mood changes with the weather

Just north of the town of Taupo the energy from a large thermal field is collected and fed to the generators. You can drive up through this area to a lookout at the top.

The craters of the moon is well worth the visit

Steam spurts from the ground from large and small vents. At one point high pressure steams screams out horizontally from a crack in the rocks. This thermal area is relatively recent and is changing quite rapidly. I think there is a distinct pattern of concentric rings of cracks developing with a high probability of a steam powered explosion producing a large crater in the near future!

The Waikato river plunges through a narrow gorge nearby. A site not to be missed. A walkway is well signed for up to a half days walking.

We stayed in the small town of Turangi, south of Taupo, for better access to the walking areas of Tongariro

A footbridge over the Tongariro river.

Extra map data is copyright Peter Thomson. Scripts are copyright of the original authors.