Rotorua to Lake Taupo

On Wednesday, January 16th we loaded our bikes and headed south on the North Island to Lake Taupo. Paul faintly remembered the ride to be mild...meaning no severe hills. We began our journey on Hwy. 5 with a nice wide shoulder and long road of flat. We were both extremely happy and making good time. Our goal was to make it to Taupo 55 miles away.

Along the way we had several stops in our plans. Maybe we'd hit Wai-O-Tapu and watch Lady Knox Geyser blow at 10:15 AM...possibly hit the Thermal Wonderland to experience nature's amazing powers for a mere $26.00. Actually our main goal was to find what the locals call "the secret spot". This included a swimming hole where two creeks joined, one hot and the other cold. Two other possibilities were Kereosene Creek and Lake Rotowera which also offered thermal pools only known to the locals. Some of these options were based off of Waiotapu Loop Road but did not include any signs other than worn down paths. While on the loop road we came upon some piping, bubbling hot mud pools which were a great suprise and FREE!



Just 2 kilometers down the road we spotted "the secret spot" and joined some fellow bathers. Hydrotherapy at it's best! Imagine a big swimming hole with two converging creeks, cold and hot blending in all sorts of directions. If you stuck your feet in the sand you'd burn your toes. Some portions of the hole were too hot to handle for any extended period of time...but if your blood got boiling just swim over to the cold portion and receive your own personal contrast bath. Definitely refreshing and definitely appreciated.


Thanks heavens for locals. We received word of a road that led into Taupo void of hills and 6km shorter! Wow! Too true to believe. They even gave us directions to another hot pool but unfortunately we had miles yet to ride. Did we mention it was a scorcher too?!? Onward we went and with 15 miles left Paul's performing like a pro in the Tour de France while I'm severely bonking. The sun did me in. I started to thumb it until I found out the top of the hill had a nice long downhill leading into Taupo. I put that thumb back in my pocket and put my fanny back in the saddle. Ugh...it hurts.