Giddy Mates ( we finally leaned the proper spelling),
After a beautiful sunrise in Napier it was breakfast and then off to Taupo and the volcanic and geothermal area of the country, by heading over The Southern Alps again. There is basically one road over, and half way there near the peak of the mountains and on the curviest parts of the road we came to a grinding halt. A truck had overturned blocking both lanes and the road was closed until they could get equipment up the road from Napier to right it and move it out of the way. We were told a two hour delay. Fortunately there was a cafe that we had just passed (the only one for about 70 miles on this road) so we went back and began our wait (that’s Cheryl standing near all the trucks lined up and waiting). After a bit over an hour a patrolman came down and informed us that chemicals had spilled all over and that the road would be closed for 8-10 hours! Decision time. After speaking with some truckers they told us of an alternate route by going back the way we came just south of Napier and taking the old route through the Wakarra Range of The Alps called “Gentle Annie.” They assured me it was all paved and passable. It would add another 4 or so hours to the trip that we had already spent several on and should normally have taken just under two door to door. There really was no alternative so off we went. Gentle Annie wasn’t so gentle particularly through the peak regions but we took our time and came through just fine. It definitely goes to the top of the list of challenging drives in NZ in my book.
Having finally scaled The Alps we arrived in the town of Waiouru, home of the New Zealand Army, and their museum. Stopped at the museum basically to hit the bathrooms and get some well deserved snacks and then we were off again. We drove by Tongariro National Park and Mt. Ruapehu, the tallest volcano in NZ but the summit was in the clouds. Then unbelievably we were in desert! All of the moisture from the west gets dumped on the volcano as snow and the plains to the east of it are truly desert. It was weird in a country that is so green.
We finally made it to Lake Taupo in beautiful sunshine, but too late to go to the thermal areas. Instead we visited the Huka Falls which was quite breathtaking and beautiful. We saw some Maori stone carving then off to dinner with local wine and finally to bed.
