Lake Taupo and Forgotten World Highway, NZ – April 2019
It’s always fun kayaking and having a little cove suddenly appear on the coast in front of you. Even if a little bird told you it was there!
It’s not hard to understand why so many people want to buy a house on a lake. Waking up to the sound of the water gently washing up onto land is wonderful.
We didn’t kayak for long and didn’t go too far, but it was nice to get a taste of it on the clear waters of Lake Taupo.
Flooded road…had to turn back 
please excuse the streaky windshield picture!!
After leaving Lake Taupo, we headed toward Taumarunui and the Forgotten World Highway. This highway is unpaved for a portion of it and that’s probably one reason why we passed only a couple other cars here and there. The highway runs through rain forest and curves along cliffs. There was one curve along a cliff side where it looked like the road was crumbling away, but we made it! And we finally had arrived in the land of sheep, cows and wild goats!
We debated stopping along the way to see Mt. Damper Falls, but we didn’t have enough time to walk there and back from the trail head. Even though we didn’t see the falls, I still appreciated going to what is a tourist attraction and finding an unassuming entrance. Maybe it’s not as spectacular as other places, but for some, could be a beautiful escape.
Along the way, we stopped to stretch our legs at Whangamomona, which declared itself a republic in 1989. We didn’t have time to explore the area, and didn’t get our passport stamped, but I did grab a couple pictures along what seems to be the main street. This town has quite an interesting history. I definitely want to return here and explore the area next time! Six days is not enough time to do New Zealand.
Extraordinarily intriguing highlights you have mentioned, thank you for writing. Irena Jeth Ravi