November 12, 2015

56: Taupo & Wellington


For today, it was mainly a transit kind of day. We left this morning around 8:50am from Rotorua i-Site Information Centre. Its kind of chilly as it's been 16°C for the mornings and then going up to around 22°C. However, it'll be colder in Wellington, so I guess I shouldn't complain much about it.

We boarded our bus at 9am and then headed to Taupo. Taupo isn't our final destination though. We decided to get off at Taupo to look over Lake Taupo to see these three mountains. Do any of them look familiar?




We snapped a few shots and then headed to the park that we passed by. We played a game of chess. And by chess, I mean a giant sized set. I kind of want one now!



We had a picnic at the tables nearby and walked around the Taupo waterfront which was pretty nice. We boarded our bus for another 6 hour ride to Wellington!



The one above is Mt. Ngauruhoe is Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings!

Our bus had a really really nice scenic route. We got more spectacular photos of the mountains! And we made a pitstop half way as our driver needed food at Flat Hills Café.

We bought a BLT sandwich and two ice cream cones. By this time, we had gone farther down the north island that it was getting chilly. But being Canadians and having Ice Capps in Winter, ice cream wouldn't phase us. I saw numerous passengers with jackets and coats while we're in t-shirts eating ice cream. Could you imagine the looks?


I got Gold Rush flavour which was like chocolate dipped walnuts with a bit of orange. Keri got Cookies & Cream. Both were delicious, definitely approving the Tip Top ice cream recommendation!

We could have also spent $2 doing a maze behind the café.. But with half an hour to get back into this bus, what if we don't get out? Maybe next time, a speed challenge?

We got back on the bus and headed to Wellington. We played on our 3DS, listened to music and looked at the sights.

It was around 7:15pm when we got to Wellington Station. We walked to our backpacker site, dropped our bags and headed out for food. There was a place we had in mind for dinner, Sweet Mother's Kitchen. I had the gumbo and Keri had ribs! We also drank an iced latte and a lemon lime bitter. It was delicious! The total came to around $40 NZD.


We headed back to the hostel and watched a few episodes of The Last Man On Earth. Its pretty funny and sometimes very cringe worthy. Afterwards, we planned out our days all the way to the end of our New Zealand days. We still have to do Christchurch, Mount Cook, Queenstown, and Milford Sound!

Lots to do, not enough time!