World Tour Stops 6-8 - Taupo, Napier and Wellington, NZ

Sorry for the delayed writing, was having too much fun and forgot to post updates. Wrapping up the North Island of New Zealand in this post which includes a night in Lake Taupo, a night in Napier and 2 nights in Wellington.

Lake Taupo - so we specifically stayed here because I wanted to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is about 30 minutes south of lake. We were fortunate to again have housing provided to us by a NZ frisbee lady and cannot thank everyone that housed us enough for their hospitality. The Alpine crossing is a 19.4Km (12 mile) trek through a mountain pass with craters, geothermals, amazing views of the lakes below, and yes, some steep climbs. This hike is apparently super touristy during the spring/summer months but it was surprisingly sparse when we went. We passed maybe a dozen people along the trail, which was enough sometimes to have us concerned that we were headed in the wrong direction. With that said, the trail is really worn and really well marked with bathroom stations along the way, so we weren't actually ever concerned. Make sure to pack plenty of water and expect changing climates (we were really warm at some points to the point of wearing tank tops but at higher altitudes we needed long sleeves and our puffy jackets). Anyway, this is a super cool trek that I would highly recommend. I would say that my pictures definitely don't do it justice though, so visit their hashtag on Instagram (#tongarirocrossing) for some truly unbelievable images. Also, another fun fact is that this is where Gondor was filmed from Lord of the Rings, so of course, I continued to nerd out.

After this super long day we went back to our place and showered off before heading for a much needed beer and pizza at Finn MacCuhal's (an Irish pub) in town. We did get asked to play some pool and showed off our very poor skills, but overall the night life is pretty small.

The next morning we made our way towards Napier. We stopped on our way out for the Huka Falls hike which is about 2km each way along the Waikato river and it is so beautiful. The water is so blue because of the speed and power of it and the flow from snow down the mountains.

Before leaving Taupo we did have to take a photo of the airplane McDonald's since it is the most photographed McDonald's (says the sign, but no sited sources).

From here we made the rest of the drive for some wine tasting. No pictures here as we arrive into town a little late, but we did visit Craggy Range Vineyard and Elephant Hill Estate for a quick glass of wine and some cheese.

The next morning we traveled from Napier all the way down to Wellington, about a 4 hour drive, so we left early-ish and only stopped for a couple of leg stretches along the way including a quick walk around the gorge but hopped right back in the car.

Wellington was great. We stayed with some awesome frisbee folks and Sally (one of our hosts) took us out to a great place for pizza and beer and then we met up with the Wellington Men's Club team for a little partying. They were celebrating their end of season so it was quite an evening and props to them for showing us a really good time. I wish I could name all the bars we hopped to, but honestly we moved so often that I can't even name one. Enough to say that Wellington is a great place to go for drinking and dancing the night away.

After a very late night we slept in the next morning before heading around to actually see the sights in Wellington. We drove to the top of Mount Victoria, but there are hiking paths that you can take if you prefer a little bit more of a challenge. The view from the top is amazing with sights of the entire city and horseshoe bay. Definitely recommend taking a trip to the top.

On the way down we drove out to Weta Studios to learn about where Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed. We then stopped at St. Mary's Cathedral and went by the beehive which houses parliament. Finally we took a stroll down Cuba Street which is great for food and shopping and of course grabbing a quick beer. Our finally evening in the north island we went to Upper Hutt with our wonderful hosts to hit a couple breweries and had dinner at Boneface. Delicious and a great way to end our stay on the North Island of New Zealand.

Next up, South Island :).