Friday, October 6, 2017

New Zealand, 9-11-2017--Wellington to Lake Whakamaru



After visiting the Te Papa Museum we camped near Wellington and the next morning headed north.  Our primary interest on the North Island was to see the popular sailing area along the northeast coast of the North Island.

Some friends had asked us to try a bacon buttie, a gastronomic treat in England and New Zealand.  It's just two pieces of toasted white bread slathered with butter and three big pieces of bacon in between.  In the town of Bulls, we located the genuine article.



David gives it a try...

...and a big thumbs up.  Not exactly health food, but absolutely delicious.


The small town of Bull capitalizes on its name in a big way.  Here's the storefront window of the local chiropractor.

Bulls misses no opportunity to display its name.


As occasional road signs note, "NZ roads are different, allow more time." Above, Highway 1, a major thoroughfare on the North Island, goes through the center of a small town, stoplights and all.

Looking west toward Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe, in Tongariro National Park.  Both peaks are active volcanoes  

The area we're driving through is known as the Rangipo Desert.  The relatively high elevation, strong winds and high evaporation rate give it the look of a desert, despite 60-100 inches of annual rainfall.     
In the resort town of Taupo on the shore of Lake Taupo, we came across this curious sight.  
People were lined up to pay $20 for a bucket of 25 golf balls.  The object was to make a hole in one on a float 100 yards out in the lake.  
We couldn't figure out why so many people were waiting to hit golf balls into the lake until we saw this banner.  

In addition to the hole in one, there were sand bunkers on the float and various prizes.

One poor bloke in a wetsuit was diving in the frigid lake water to recover all the balls that missed the float, which was almost all of them.  

At first we couldn't figure out what this sign meant.

Soon we realized that what makes Taupo a resort is its hot springs.  In some places clouds of steam across the road impaired visibility.  



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