Honeymoon Day 5 - To Taupo, Kayaking to Carvings
From Rotorua, we drove south for a few hours to get to Taupo, which has the strong feel of a vacation town on a lake. It was absolutely beautiful weather that day, which was good for us and also for the people apparently competing in an Ironman competition that week as well. We got to the town a few hours before our scheduled kayaking, so we walked around town a bit and did some shopping.
There was even an Ironman village set up in the large city park, which we checked out a little and scored some deals on some new bike shorts for both of us, and a nice T-shirt for Charlie. The brand we got (2XU) is Australian, and so was cheaper on that side of the world. Charlie also got some water-friendly shoes at a local sports shop called Katmandu. They were all over the place in NZ. Kind of like Eddie Bauer or North Face here.
Once we had our fill of shopping, it was time to meet up with our kayaking guide for a half-day trip to some Maori carvings in Mine Bay of Lake Yaupo. The carvings were done in the late 70s, finishing up in 1980, by a local Maori artist. They have since become a huge attraction for boaters of all kinds. You can only get to them via the water - our guide told us about how the carver set up floating scaffolding to work on the carvings during calm days. Because not all the days were calm, he also started some carvings in the rocks off to the side that could be carved from land. You can see in the picture below the scope of the carvings. They were really really cool.
Our guide, Harry, was a really nice kid, who had decided that his original career path of being a mechanic was not nearly as fun as being an outdoor guide, and who now leads kayaking trips in the summer and white water rafting trips in the fall through spring. As he said, people on those trips are way more pleasant to deal with because we are often on vacation, whereas anyone walking into a mechanic's shop is already cranky. Though I'm not about to give up my cushy desk job for life as a guide, I can definitely see the appeal. He gets to spend all his days outdoors doing what he loves!
The lake itself was beautiful as well. The water was super clear, which made it hard to believe how deep it was at times. We had some small waves on the way over to the carvings, but nothing more than 6 inches high or so. The double kayaks were really stable, and Charlie and I have had enough experience in them at this point to not argue about direction too much ;). These kayaks also had a rudder, which I think made steering much easier. Charlie had the steering pedals in the back, I was really just providing additional arm power, which suited me just fine.
There were only four people on the trip. Besides Charlie and I, there were two women from Slovenia who were traveling together and seemed to be having a fantastic time. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to make it out to the carving, after which we pulled up on a little beach and, I kid you not, had afternoon tea with muffins. The guide had folding camp stools and a folding camp table, plus a thermos of hot water and instant coffee, tea, milk, and blueberry muffins for all of us to enjoy. Being an essentially private beach, it was super relaxing and a great break after the hard kayaking. We waded a little in the clear water, though it was a little cold for real swimming, and basked in the sun. By the time we were ready to head back, the lake had stilled to a glassy surface, and was truly idyllic.
Even better was the fact that the kayaks had small motors attached to them for our use, should we not want to paddle anymore. Charlie and I agreed that if the women from Slovenia wanted to use them, we ought to use ours too rather than attempt to keep up, and so we did. Unfortunately, our kayak's motor didn't want to start at first, so we grabbed onto the other kayak and rode with them in a raft for a while. It was a total hoot, and we all had a great time. Eventually we tried our motor again and it cooperated, so we putt-putted our way back almost all the way, and paddled the final stretch in.
There was even an Ironman village set up in the large city park, which we checked out a little and scored some deals on some new bike shorts for both of us, and a nice T-shirt for Charlie. The brand we got (2XU) is Australian, and so was cheaper on that side of the world. Charlie also got some water-friendly shoes at a local sports shop called Katmandu. They were all over the place in NZ. Kind of like Eddie Bauer or North Face here.
Once we had our fill of shopping, it was time to meet up with our kayaking guide for a half-day trip to some Maori carvings in Mine Bay of Lake Yaupo. The carvings were done in the late 70s, finishing up in 1980, by a local Maori artist. They have since become a huge attraction for boaters of all kinds. You can only get to them via the water - our guide told us about how the carver set up floating scaffolding to work on the carvings during calm days. Because not all the days were calm, he also started some carvings in the rocks off to the side that could be carved from land. You can see in the picture below the scope of the carvings. They were really really cool.
Our guide, Harry, was a really nice kid, who had decided that his original career path of being a mechanic was not nearly as fun as being an outdoor guide, and who now leads kayaking trips in the summer and white water rafting trips in the fall through spring. As he said, people on those trips are way more pleasant to deal with because we are often on vacation, whereas anyone walking into a mechanic's shop is already cranky. Though I'm not about to give up my cushy desk job for life as a guide, I can definitely see the appeal. He gets to spend all his days outdoors doing what he loves!
The lake itself was beautiful as well. The water was super clear, which made it hard to believe how deep it was at times. We had some small waves on the way over to the carvings, but nothing more than 6 inches high or so. The double kayaks were really stable, and Charlie and I have had enough experience in them at this point to not argue about direction too much ;). These kayaks also had a rudder, which I think made steering much easier. Charlie had the steering pedals in the back, I was really just providing additional arm power, which suited me just fine.
There were only four people on the trip. Besides Charlie and I, there were two women from Slovenia who were traveling together and seemed to be having a fantastic time. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to make it out to the carving, after which we pulled up on a little beach and, I kid you not, had afternoon tea with muffins. The guide had folding camp stools and a folding camp table, plus a thermos of hot water and instant coffee, tea, milk, and blueberry muffins for all of us to enjoy. Being an essentially private beach, it was super relaxing and a great break after the hard kayaking. We waded a little in the clear water, though it was a little cold for real swimming, and basked in the sun. By the time we were ready to head back, the lake had stilled to a glassy surface, and was truly idyllic.
Even better was the fact that the kayaks had small motors attached to them for our use, should we not want to paddle anymore. Charlie and I agreed that if the women from Slovenia wanted to use them, we ought to use ours too rather than attempt to keep up, and so we did. Unfortunately, our kayak's motor didn't want to start at first, so we grabbed onto the other kayak and rode with them in a raft for a while. It was a total hoot, and we all had a great time. Eventually we tried our motor again and it cooperated, so we putt-putted our way back almost all the way, and paddled the final stretch in.
After kayaking, we drove a little ways out of town to a bed and breakfast, then back to town for dinner in a tapas-style restaurant where we had some local sodas made with hops, venison meatballs, amazing potato wedge fries, and a few other delights. Then we tucked in at the B&B, ready for a long day of driving the next day back towards Auckland.
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