Tuesday 27th Feb. Stratford (24 degrees)

We decided to explore a little more around Lake Taupo before departing and so headed out to do a walk to a picturesque spot at a point near where the Maori Rock carvings were. We enjoyed an invigorating hour’s walk to the point and back before heading into Taupo for coffee. We also wanted to check out the nearby Wairakei geothermal Power station which had a lookout. Unfortunately the road to the lookout was closed. We suspect that as the station was located close to a pine forest that had been badly damaged from cyclone Gabriel, the road was closed due to trees falling across it. Anyway it didn’t matter as it was on the way to our next stop, Stratford.

Originally, we had decided to “wing it” as to where we would stay and it was the only night we hadn’t booked into an Airbnb. Before leaving we thought that somewhere around the Hawkes Bay area like, Napier, Hastings on the east coast of NZ. Etc., might be a good place. (I was interested in Napier, due to all the Art deco buildings in the town.) Unfortunately, this was the area that was badly devastated by cyclone Gabriel and is still a “no go zone” for tourists with issues with water supply and electricity. A few days ago we decided to head from Taupo over to the west coast rather than the east coast. We drove to the large town of New Plymouth and did some exploring before heading to our accommodation.  Rob booked us into a most amazing Airbnb in a town called Stratford that overlooks Egmont National Park and Mt. Taranaki. I have to say that Rob has done a wonderful job in booking our accommodation. Apart from our “rustic Good Earth Retreat”, the rest of the accommodation has been nothing but 5 stars! Last night at Taupo was just magnificent in our own unit attached to the house with everything we could need etc. but today it has gone to another level! We have a master suite which is in the architecturally designed house but up on a second level with its own lift and private from the rest of the house. (This is the second place we have stayed in which has had its own lift as the owners asked for it when designing their homes.  Our host explained that the lift is actually just a scissor lift, but it certainly does the job and doesn’t look out of place.) We have a lounge, a kitchenette, a master bedroom and a bathroom. Two TV’s, one in the master bedroom and the other in the lounge! Anyway it is the amazing views that also makes this place special.