Taupo to Marton

There is always a lot happening at the Taupo NZMCA site at the airport.  Planes come and go from the nearby airport, for a small airport it gets quite a bit of traffic.

Air NZ plane readying for takeoff at Taupo Airport

And across the road, the noisy helicopters rev up their engines before flying merrily away.  What are they doing, I often wonder.  They could well be ferrying a load of tourists around, and maybe businessmen.  What ever they are up to, you would certainly make a “grand entrance” arriving somewhere special in one of these.

There goes another helicopter

It’s always good to top up the water before hitting the road, and the Taupo site has a handy water point at the exit.

We travel with fresh water tanks full, grey/black water tanks empty

Friday morning could only be called one of those “Blue dome days”.  We stopped briefly on the hill top as we exited the NZMCA park, and I snapped  photo of Mt Ruhapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe glistening away in the distance.

View across Lake Taupo

We experienced a heart-in-mouth moment when we met a huge truck taking up more that his fair share on the road charging around a blind corner at Bulli Point Bluff.  Luckily, we managed to pass each other without coming to a sticky end, but these situations are always rather scary, especially from my point of view.

Although I had assured Robin that I probably wouldn’t bother taking any more photos of Mt Ruhapehu on our trip down the Desert Road, I just couldn’t help myself.  “How many more photos do you need of the mountain?”, he asked.  Who knows?  As many as I want to take, I guess.

View from the Desert Road

After a short stop at the Waiouru Army Museum, we decided to carry on and stop for lunch at Mangaweka.  We parked the caravans alongside the now defunct café in the DC3 airplane.  An icon since 1986, the plane still sits proudly on SH1, watching all the traffic whizz by.

Lunch outside Mangaweka International Airport

Before too long, we arrive at the Marton NZMCA site, our stop for the night.  After a quick trip to the local shops, we sat outside enjoying the sunshine while having our last 4zees of the holiday.  It seems hard to believe that we  started our safari trip from Marton two weeks previously – we have certainly covered a lot a miles since then.  .  Then in the evening we gathered in our van with Bill and Val for coffee and a liquor or two, a fitting finale to our safari trip.