Taumarunui

This small heartland town would be easily passed over as not much to see, but I’m sure this will be a hip little town in ten years. There’s great mountain biking, bush walks, the best trout fishing in the world, skiing 40 minutes away, a great climate. And, it’s still small and inexpensive. Unfortunately we couldn’t settle there because we can’t pronounce the name consistently.

A Rainy Walk

We had a very wet walk from the town of Whakapapa toward Ruapehu. It was foggy when we started out, but full-on rain before we decided to turn around. The spectacular views of the volcano and surrounding landscape were well hidden. Sorry, no pictures of the landscape, but here are Amy and Quinne walking out of the forest.


It was so nice to be able to change clothes in the caravan and have a hot cup of tea. Amy even made cinnamon toast right there in the trailhead parking lot.

The Best Thing About This Trip...

Plenty of family time

Taupo to Taumarunui

We drove from Taupo to Taumarunui via the National Park.


View Larger Map

The magnificent views of New Zealand's largest volcano were completely hidden from us by the clouds. Apparently it's a spectacular view just behind this ski chateau:


Please notice the name if this village. Remember that "wh" is pronounced "f".

A caravan park on the outskirts of Havelock North

Farm Views

Here are some pictures that I just processed from the farm on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Napier

Destroyed by an earthquake in February of 1931, the town of Napier rebuilt itself in the art deco style of the day. It seemed natural to build everything in the new style. It’s really strange to see so many buildings with the date of 1932 or 19933 on them. Here are some examples:






Here's another picture showing the architecture


To keep the trend alive, everyone still drives cars like this:


Ok, not really, but they will in a few weeks during the Art Deco Days Festival. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll still be in town.
Most towns in New Zealand lack the character of European villages, especially when it comes to architecture. The charm of New Zealand is in its countryside. The town of Napier is one of a few exceptions.
This region is dry, especially during this time of year. The scenery is different from the typical lush green landscape covering most of New Zealand. The landscape here reminds us of the Colorado Front Range. Here’s a golden field of grass across the street from where we’re staying.