Road trip to Taupo & Rotorua (Day 1)

My first road trip ever! Super exciting and fun to be able to go on a road trip because it's impossible to do one in Singapore (since it's so small we can only do walking trips). Haha, Lynley was the driver for most of the entire journey and her dad took over when she got tired. It's so nice of Lynley to plan for us to take this road trip to Taupo and Rotorua together! I did not do any planning at all and did not research much on New Zealand. Super grateful and thankful for her for planning so much and allowing me to experience the beauty of New Zealand! :)

Throughout the road trip, I also did a lot of reflection about my dreams and aspirations for the future. It was a good opportunity to slow down my pace of life and spend time thinking about life. It's really hard to do it in Singapore when we are caught up with the busyness of our daily life.

First stop on our itinerary was Hukka Falls. Hukka . It's such a beautiful waterfall with fast flowing water streaming down! IThe volume of water flowing through often approaches 220,000 litres per second. Natural hydro power is being generated from the flow of the water! I really love looking at waterfalls and they never fail to amaze me.

Lynley looking cool while driving

Hukka Falls

With Lynley and her Family

After visiting Hukka Falls, we headed to the Great Taupo Lake. It is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand. We had a lunch picnic by the Great Taupo Lake :) It was very calming to enjoy a meal by the lake with such scenic views!

Lunch by the Taupo Lake

After lunch, we went to the Spa Thermal Park at Tauhara, Taupo. It was cool seeing natural hot springs out in the open! There were people enjoying a soak in the hot springs. The good thing about it is that it's completely free as it is all natural and outdoors! However, we already pre-purchased a Groupon voucher for the thermal pool at Wairakei Terraces. Well, it was a really nice place known for their thermal pools but... I don't really like the feeling of being in a hot spring! It's supposed to be really comfortable and relaxing but I got a little dizzy after awhile but I did not want to get out of the water either because it's so cold once you get out! So I ended up trying to stay inside for as long as my body can last.

At Spa Thermal Park

Lastly, we headed to Rotorua where we visited the Rotorua Museum before resting for the night.

Rotorua Museum

#NewZealand #Taupo #Rotorua #Travel