Taupo

I drove down from Auckland to a town called Taupo on Wednesday afternoon. This first really interesting thing I noticed is how little there is around once you get outside of the big city. About 30 minutes outside of Auckland, it began looking seriously rural…..some farms, but not much else. Not a surprise, I guess, for a county with only 4.5 M people total. It was a stunning 290 kilometer trip down south, with a huge mountain range flanking the left side of the road all the way down. Got to Taupo in a leisurely 3.5 hours and checked into the hotel around 7:30. The lodge is right on Lake Taupo and I noticed the sun starting to set right as I was hauling my bags up the stairs. I grabbed my camera and went outside to snap a beautiful picture of the sun going down over the lake. Nice!

Walked down to town 10 minutes down the road and swung in the first pub I happened upon. I very much enjoyed a pint and a chicken burger and hustled back to the lodge. My fishing guide was picking me up at 7:30 and I wanted to be fresh and have time for a solid breakfast. I planned on it being a long day fishing!