We took the scenic route from Whakatane to Taupo via Rotorua and some of the area’s volcanic crater lakes. More spectacular scenery and then we were in the big(ish) smoke. Rotorua is a bigger and more touristy town than we’ve seen for a while – we had a quick look at the lake, found the iSite to stock up on brochures and headed on to Taupo.
We made a couple of short detours en route – the Rainbow Mountain scenic reserve crater pools and the Waiotapu mud pools – and more scenery, dotted with thermal geysers. Taupo (pronounced Toe – paw) is another large(ish) touristy town but far, far more reserved than Rotorua. It clings to the banks of the 622 square kilometer lake and looks out to three volcanoes on the other shore.
We found the very comfortable Gables Motel on the banks of the lake, unpacked and wandered the streets of Taupo for a while before settling on Thai for a Friday night feast.
The Obligatory Blog 