From Wellington to Rotorua

Friday, 5 August 2016

From Wellington to Rotorua

This is the longest drive of our New Zealand self-drive trip. Along the route we chose, we passed by a small stretch of west coastline, villages, farms and national parks. I enjoyed my drive.

The distance from Wellington to Rotorua is about 460km and it takes about 5.5 hours without stopping. We, however, stopped as frequent as we wish. It took us almost 8 hours. These are some of the reasons you must stop from time to time:

We also passed by the Tongariro National Park via Desert Road. (Tongariro National Park was home to the Mordor). Mt Ngauruhoe in the Tongariro National Park was digitally altered to appear as Mount Doom but too bad there was no place for us to stop for photo session. Mount Ruapehu is good enough for me though.

Mount Ruapehu from State Highway 1

This is how a road trip should feel like

We had a brief stop at Lake Taupo before we stopped at Taupo town. I couldn't resist. It was so blue and the weather was great that day!

After taking tons of photos and lots of stretching at the lake side, finally we decided to head to Taupo Town and have late lunch at the Coolest McD in the World. Really, who doesn't want to have a meal in an aeroplane? And who can resist the "create-your-taste" burger!?

After lunch, we headed to Huka Falls as out final stop before we check in to Paradise Valley Lodge. Huka Falls is just a few minutes drive outside of Taupo town. You can hear the thundering sound even before you reach the entrance of the park.

Fun fact: The sheer volume of water flowing through the rock face of the mighty Waikato River amounts to 220,000 litres per second; enough to fill one Olympic sized swimming pool in 11 seconds!

We love the crystal clear blue! We love how the water roar and rumble! Standing at the foot bridge, you can witness the frightening display of Huka Falls power.

LOTR迷小贴士：Tongariro National Park was home to the Mordor, and much of Frodo and Sam's journey into the land of Sauron was filmed on and around the Tongariro National Park; Mt Ngauruhoe was digitally altered to appear as Mt Doom; Ithilien Camp was filmed near Mangawhero Falls; Rangipo Desert was the Mordor/Blackgate.