Taupo or Bust

We said goodbye to the capital this morning and took an epic drive all the way from Wellington to Taupo, on the edge of the great lake in the central north of the North Island.

Fortunately, the route is simple, requiring us only to follow the SH1 all the way. The weather obliged with some grey cloud and and rain for much of the journey, so we didn't begrudge the five or so hours in the van.

We made a stop half way at the self-proclaimed "gumboot capital of the world", Taihape. Oddly, no gumboots were in evidence (having missed the gumboot throwing competition), but we found Soul Café, where we indulged in some of their tempting cakes.

All about the presentation

We stopped at Pak 'n Save just outside of Wellington to inaugurate our friends in 'low cost' NZ shopping and to stock up for the next few days, including some calorific food suitable for sustaining us on the Mount Tongariro crossing planned for Saturday.

Pack. And save. For less. At Pak 'n Save

Heading through the blasted heath of the central plateau, we were treated to a sneak preview of Tongariro, which was wreathed in cloud and looking daunting.

Soon afterwards, our course met the edge of Great Lake Taupo. This body of water is so enormous as to be mistaken for a sea, especially in the misty conditions under which we approached it.

This evening and tomorrow night we are spending 'freedom camping' at Reid's Farm. This proved to be a popular spot. For our friends, it was the first time without an electrical hook-up, but we still managed to have light owing to the battery in their well-equipped van. Travelling in convoy with a more luxurious van means we often don't suffer the privations we would otherwise have to face. It even has its own toilet on board, which came in handy when we discovered the provided public loos were a little smelly.

Even given the relative comfort of the 'RV', we planned and ate a simple meal of tinned soup with bread and cheese.