Tuesday 1st November, 2011
It was an overcast cold day with plenty of rain looming, but this didnt put us off from exploring the outdoors in this rugged region.
Nope, today we were joining Malcolm from Tongariro Quad bikes to spend half of the day exploring the national park.
We ride motobikes and trials bikes back home, but couldn't claim much experience with quads so this was going to be a whole new treat for us!
We geared up in ull wet weather gear and gum boots and Malcom give us a full induction with the bikes. We then had a small test run so Malcolm to see how we would go in a few sections of terrain, and then it was off into the wild wonders of Tongariro National Park.
Plenty of mud and puddles, climbs, creek crossings and beautiful views to be experienced during the day. It was great fun, Malcolm was most friendly and supportive and the bikes were well setup and maintained.
To learn more about Tongariro Quads - visit this link http://www.tongariroquads.com/
Afterwards we headed into a very wet Lake Taupo (pronounced toe-paw by the maori's) region to seek out our next holiday park which would be our base for the next few nights. Lake Taupo is right in the heart of the North Island with access to Turangi and Rotorua and there was plenty to do in the Taupo region itself.
Our stay (Lake Taupo Holiday Park) was less than 3 minutes drive from Taupo township and can I say, wow, what a fancy park. You do pay top dollar for the site, but geeze, the park is fresh and new, with great secuity and it has power, water tap, grey water drain etc at each site. The service by staff was wonderful, the reception was very modern with plenty of information avialable to help you plan your day.
A tip for Australian who might be Big4 Holiday Parks members...take ur card with you and you will get a 10% discount at any Top10 Holiday Parks in NZ.
To learn more about Lake Taupo Holiday Resort - go visit their site here - http://www.taupotop10.co.nz/
