Ohakune

Not all of the places we have spent the nights have been that good, some of this is due to lack of planning on our part, which has also provided some of the spontaneity to our adventure thru New Zealand. When we did not camp at Lake Waikaremoana we drove on to a town of Taupo on Lake Taupo, hmmm!, this town was very touristy and we hit it on Good Friday, yikes (at least from our perspective). We found accommodations, but were up on the road to Ohakune fairly early. We had decided that we did not want to drive all day, which is what we have been doing most of the trip. The drive from Taupo to Ohakune was a two hour drive!, yaahooo! The drive took us past several volcanoes (still active) in the Tongariro National Park and then we landed in Ohakune. Ohakune is a ski-resort area, but since this is the beginning of fall there is no skiing at the moment and this makes it a nice sleepy little village, perfect for a couple of days of relaxation and to enjoy our time celebrating my 50th birthday! Yeehaw. We got a small 2 hour hike in yesterday and will try to get out for another if we can manage our time.

Ohakune