By the numbers
11.43 kms
16,586 steps
I was booked on the Ernest Kemp this morning
and I rolled out of the room to find that it was miserable looking weather and
was a light drizzle. I headed to the one place that would be cheery in the
morning and that was Maccas. I tried the
meal order thing where you select everything yu want and then pay. When I had
my receipt, I waited for my meal to be made up, which it was done. I was
impressed that the whole episode was very easy. The only problem I had was that
the tray accidentally went into the bin too as it slipped out of my hand.
Slowly I made my way down to where the boat
was as it would be a 2 hour trip as I soon found out. I wanted to get out of
the rain when it did come harder, but it seemed having my brolly up was a waste
of time as it stopped raining. I found the Superloo to cost 50 cents though
when I used them they were clean. They included showers and a changing room
too. I ended up getting 10% off the boat, which turned out to be a great deal.
The tour was full and I was happy to sit outside until I was joined by another
couple who turned out to be a local bus driver for Surfside. I laughed at him
when he asked if there was improvement needed. He and his daughter had been
around New Zealand and showing me pictures on his phone that looked really
good. The tour took us to some of the exclusive suburbs like Acacia Bay for the
trees and out to the rock carvings. These were only around 30 years old and not
ancient carvings as people tend to think. There were more than one carving as
only the main face one is usually shown. On the way back we went along the
shore around three mile Bay to Two Mile and then to the mouth of the Waikato
River that is the longest river in New Zealand. The clouds hadn’t cleared up,
but were now not threatening rain at all. I was happy for a short tour of the
lake.
A quick lunch afterwards had me head to the museum as I thought it would
be best to have an easy day. I thought it would be better if I got up early in
the morning to walk to Huka falls since t could be a hot sunny day. The Taupo
museum was small, but it still had a little bit of information about the Armed Constabulary in the beginnings
of Taupo. The other parts talked about the fishing on the lake with the trout,
the boats that worked the waters and the logging along with the logging of
native forests in New Zealand. I was actually surprised by how small the museum
was, but it had a bit of information. I knew there was a Redoubt in the area
that was a defensive position by the British soldiers and after a little bit of
looking I found the Tapuaeharuru
Redoubt just beside the Taupo police station. The earthworks can
still be seen along with a building that I am not sure what it was for. The
kindy is also the old court house so that was interesting as the Constabulary could read
books as it had multiple uses.
The other oddity in the area
that I seemed to be following were the paper clips with information. The
Redoubt had been listed as a historic site, but I found another one that I had
missed being a historic pioneer cemetery. I wandered to where it was and the
cemetery was more a tourist attraction that was in the idle of a bit of land
behind St. Johns ambulance station. There were around six graves and they were
surrounded by a white picket fence. I went looking at several other paper clips
and decided to turn around and headed back to the hostel as I needed to pt the
washing on and as I came back a group came in from Tangariro crossing bus were
all getting off. I still had time to get everything done before heading out
again.
I headed out for some dinner and by this time
the sun had come out. I was lucky to be wearing a hat, but the sun was bright
in the afternoon / evening light. One of the paperclips did give me a town that
had been attacked by Te Kooti in 1869. The town was Opepe near Taupo though I
do not know where it was exactly. I know there is a memorial, but that is about
all I know. I found the old bus station for Intercity that no longer exists as
the bus’ all stop on the main road now. The sun was out shining and I did not
want to head anywhere near the water as I wanted to head back to the hostel
before things happened or became too late. It is interesting to watch the sun
go down from the lounge in the hostel as the sky looks good without cloud
cover. I still have one morefull day in Taupo and I will use some of that to
walk to Huka falls and I did find another cemetery on the map. I made sure I
found myself a big water bottle in case the weather became very hot and I ran
out of water.
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