The Huka Falls are New Zealand’s most popular natural attraction. As the Waikato River leaves Lake Taupō, it narrows from 100 metres wide into a channel only 15 metres across. This forces the water through the gorge at high speed, which forms the rapids leading to the falls themselves. More than 200,000 litres of water crash through the canyon every second, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 11 seconds. You can explore the falls on foot, by mountain bike or even using New Zealand’s most exciting mode of transport – the jet boat. This half-hour thrill ride races through the gorge at more than 80 km per hour, delivering you to the base of the falls to be covered in spray.
Address: Taupō 3377, New Zealand
Website: http://www.hukafalls.com/
Located minutes from Taupō, Wairakei Tourist Park has everything you need for a great getaway. Natural features such as geothermal fields and the mighty Huka falls combined with some of the best adventure activities, dining and spots for relaxation give the unsurpassable mix that draw thousands of people to the area each year.
Wairakei Resort Taupō is located in the heart of this stunning park and provide the ultimate base for adventure, relaxation and family time.
Address: Wairakei, Taupō – New Zealand
Website: https://www.wairakeitouristpark.co.nz/
Designed by John Harris, Michael Wolveridge and Peter Thomson, a 5-time winner of the Open Championship, this historic course opened in 1970 as the country’s only internationally recognised course. In 2010, it was voted the best golf course in New Zealand. With 108 bunkers and 6,460 metres of undulating fairways, it provides a challenge for everyone, from amateur hackers to seasoned professionals. If you’re one of the former, you might like to hone your skills on the hotel’s less-formidable 9 holes before tackling the full 18 on Wairakei International Golf Course. Rounds start from NZD 260 for golfers registered with a club in New Zealand or NZD 345 for international golfers who are club members in their home country.
Address: Wairakei Drive, Thermal Explorer Hwy – 3377 – Wairakei – New Zealand
Website: https://www.wairakeigolfcourse.co.nz/
Wairakei Tourist Park offers attractions and activities that appeal to all ages. Aside from thrilling jet-boat rides and mountain-biking trails, guests enjoy the Craters of the Moon geothermal walkway. This 45-minute hike takes visitors among the craters and geothermal vents that make up the largest such field in New Zealand. You can also tour the Thermal Valley and Volcanic Activity Centre.
Address: 171 Karapiti Rd – 3377 – Taupō – New Zealand
Website: http://www.cratersofthemoon.co.nz/
Huka Honey Hive has been a Taupō institution since the late 1980s and is now New Zealand’s most important outlet where you can taste their range of honeys, honey ice creams and honey wines. You can also try skincare products from hand creams and facial moisturisers to skin balms and lotions, all using honey as a base ingredient. The more adventurous can try the bee-venom face mask. You can even learn fascinating new ways to use honey in your cooking, including information on comb honey and blue cheese, meat marinated in Rewarewa honey and yoghurt with Pohutukawa honey.
Address: 65 Karetoto Rd, (off Huka Falls Rd And SH1) – 3377 – Wairakei – New Zealand
Website: https://www.hukahoneyhive.com/
Formed after an enormous volcanic eruption approximately 27,000 years ago, expansive Lake Taupō teems with fish and is surrounded by beech forests. With its mild climate, alpine scenery and attractions such as Huka Falls and the nearby Tongariro National Park, it has become a tourist hub attracting more than 2 million visitors each year. The town hosts an annual bicycle race around the lake, as well as skydiving and an iron man endurance event. The area is also known for its impressive Maori rock carvings, extreme mountain bike trails and geothermal pools. While fishing remains popular on the lake, activities like kayaking, water skiing and sailing also attract visitors from around the world. In the spring and winter, outdoor enthusiasts base themselves in Taupō to experience skiing on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, an active volcano to the south of the lake.
Address: Taupō District, Waikato Region, North Island
Website: http://www.greatlaketaupo.com/
Outdoor enthusiasts are well catered for in the Wairakei Tourist Park. Once you’ve played golf, enjoyed a treatment in the spa and experienced the thrill of a lifetime on a jet boat to the Huka Falls, it might be time to take to the hills on a mountain bike. The hotel rents bikes to guests and has its own track in 169 acres of grounds. The perimeter track also offers access to the surrounding region. With more than 100 km of trails through spectacular scenery, it provides a challenge for all the family, from novice riders to those with years of experience on steeper slopes. You can even join Bike Taupō and Great Lake Taupō’s cycle tracks between the Aratiatia Dam and Lake Taupō. After an invigorating session on 2 wheels, why not head back to The Geyser House Bar for a well-earned refreshment?
Young visitors will doubtless enjoy the pedal boats, aqua trikes and trout feeding at the Huka Prawn Park. Every prawn you catch is yours to cook on the barbecue and eat, so it’s a fun day out for the whole family. For an adrenaline-pumping finale, you can head to Rock’n Ropes to test yourself on the challenging high ropes course.
Address: Karetoto Rd – 3377 – Wairakei – New Zealand
Website: http://hukaprawnpark.co.nz/
The National Equestrian Centre was founded on a 90-acre site in Taupō by G.P. and Pat Donnelly in 1975. An equine training centre was added five years later, and courses were then introduced to help riders of all ages acquire the horsemanship skills needed to look after horses. You can book lessons at the centre or watch their programme of events. You can even book a ride through the forest with local experts, Taupō Horse Treks.
Address: 114 Rapids Rd – 3378 – Rotokawa – New Zealand
Website: http://www.ninec.co.nz/
Waimangu Volcanic Valley connects people with the beating heart of the world’s youngest geothermal valley, its unique history and legacy. Home to the now hidden Pink and White Terraces, the eighth natural wonder of the world, Waimangu Volcanic Valley immerses visitors in the stories of the Mt Tarawera volcanic eruption, its people, and the resulting dramatic landscape changes that created the world’s youngest geothermal valley.
Through a variety of self-guided, and guided, nature walks, hikes, and lake cruises, interpretive signage, technology, map guides, and human to human interaction visitors immerse, imagine, and feel the unique geothermal features, regenerating forest, bird life, botany, and culture and legacy of the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.
Address: 587 Waimangu Road, Rotorua 3043
Website: https://www.waimangu.co.nz/
