Dear all
Today we had planned a quiet little trundle from the northern side of Lake Taupo down to a small village in the Tongariro national Park called Whakapapa and it all started that way. We went back up to the Aratiatia Rapids to check that our assertion that the sluice gates were open was correct. It was so we mooched our way over to a little place called Honey Hive New Zealand, which goes into infinite detail over the production of honey and then tries to flog you loads. The highlights, which make it worth visiting is a live hive, which has a tube linking it from inside the building to the outside world & secondly that you get to taste all the honey they are trying to sell! Yummy I really love honey..........
We drove up the 6Km of very windy road to the ski resort, which at this time of year is a ghost town at this time of year, but is where the ski lift is located and works at restricted times. We had a mooch around, took some photos & then decided to drive to our campsite. We had just set off when catastrophe struck!
We had literally driven off from the car park and as we approached the first bend Dean the brakes decided to not work and let’s just say we ended up upside down in a culvert which was a far better choice than going over the cliff on the other side of the road! It was pretty scary, but we both walked away with just a couple of glass cuts. No we were not going fast say 30km/hour & yes we were sure the brakes failed as the mechanic who picked us up checked them and the peddle went down to the floor! We had to wait for about couple of hours for the breakdown truck to arrive and them managed to turn the van back over and get it on the truck without losing any of our stuff. They then took us back to their garage Smash Palace (more about this later), where we arranged to stay at their rooms at their place. I was pretty shaky, but they had dinner ready for us when we got there when I forced down and then we joined the rest of the guests in the lounge for a while before we retired to a lovely bedroom – the only highlight of an otherwise dreadful end to the day………………….
Today we had planned a quiet little trundle from the northern side of Lake Taupo down to a small village in the Tongariro national Park called Whakapapa and it all started that way. We went back up to the Aratiatia Rapids to check that our assertion that the sluice gates were open was correct. It was so we mooched our way over to a little place called Honey Hive New Zealand, which goes into infinite detail over the production of honey and then tries to flog you loads. The highlights, which make it worth visiting is a live hive, which has a tube linking it from inside the building to the outside world & secondly that you get to taste all the honey they are trying to sell! Yummy I really love honey..........
We then mooched our way around the vast Lake, stopping for lunch so that we could admire the view right down to the Tongariro National park with its fabulous three huge mountains. The road winds its way round the l
ake to Turaunga famous for its fishing competitions. The road then leads around to the Wakapapa the village which serves as a favourite spot to base yourself for summer walking & climbing and winter snow sports in the area. The Local Doc had a great office with some amazing displays about the region and a special exhibition on the almost extinct Kakapo which is now doing really well in Bluecod island just off Stewart Island. They gave us some great tips for walks to do and although Dean still has his heart set on walking up Ruapehu. I was greatly swayed by the Tongariro crossing walk, which is alleged to be the greatest one day walk in NZ. Dean persuaded my to come and have a look at the climb, for which the first section can be covered on the ski lift leaving only 3 hours of climb & two to descend!!
We drove up the 6Km of very windy road to the ski resort, which at this time of year is a ghost town at this time of year, but is where the ski lift is located and works at restricted times. We had a mooch around, took some photos & then decided to drive to our campsite. We had just set off when catastrophe struck!
We had literally driven off from the car park and as we approached the first bend Dean the brakes decided to not work and let’s just say we ended up upside down in a culvert which was a far better choice than going over the cliff on the other side of the road! It was pretty scary, but we both walked away with just a couple of glass cuts. No we were not going fast say 30km/hour & yes we were sure the brakes failed as the mechanic who picked us up checked them and the peddle went down to the floor! We had to wait for about couple of hours for the breakdown truck to arrive and them managed to turn the van back over and get it on the truck without losing any of our stuff. They then took us back to their garage Smash Palace (more about this later), where we arranged to stay at their rooms at their place. I was pretty shaky, but they had dinner ready for us when we got there when I forced down and then we joined the rest of the guests in the lounge for a while before we retired to a lovely bedroom – the only highlight of an otherwise dreadful end to the day………………….
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