Tag: Pukawa

Lake Swims, Wild Blackberries & a Kereru

On By exploringthelongwhitecloudIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Breakfast this morning is on the deck, watching the rising sun while piwakawaka (fantails) flit about in the morning air.

Today has been set aside to discover Pukawa and what better place to start than down at the lake shore. We decide to drive the car down, it’s a 11 minute walk according to Google maps. It would be nice to have been closer to the lake, but the views and tree house feel to this house makes it a sanctuary that is so worth being that far from the lake.

Pukawa has a beautiful little bay that is reserved just for swimming. There is a mix of black sand and volcanic rock which Lachie throws into the lake for a local dog to fetch. The dog has a great time chasing after it then trying to bury it in the sand.

The water is incredibly clear and we all have fun paddling in the still waters. It’s cool but refreshing. Hopefully I will be brave enough to go for a swim later.

We then head to Tokaanu to check out some geo thermal activity. Tokaanu Thermal Walk is a flat, easy, 20 minute loop track that is well maintained. There are lots of danger signs along the way, warning people not to wander from the track. There is lots of thermal activity happening here. We walk along a path lined with manuka trees, pass ponds of crystal clear water, some with bubbles rising up in them, bubbling mud pools, but the last pool was the most impressive. Again the clearest water, with plenty of steam rising off it. Every now and again the steam would clear, revealing a massive hole that appears to plummet to the middle of the earth.

After a delicious BBQ lunch, courtesy of my brother (we are all so lucky he enjoys cooking so much) I have a snooze on the deck chair in the sun. The birds are cheerful, the sun is warm, it’s easy to slip into holiday mode here. I have been so busy with work and then busy painting the exterior of the house in my free time, so this lazy, relaxing time away is just bliss.

After my refreshing nap we head out to do the Omori-Pukawa walk. It goes through some gorgeous forest, tall trees that reach for the sky, creating dappled light on the forest floor. Vines are draped amongst the trees, the forest has an ancient feel to it. Further on we come across wild blackberries and spend some time picking them for Lachie and Lily. We also meet a little piwakawaka who dances around us, fanning it’s tail and chattering away.

After our walk it’s swimming time. There are a lot of people down at the lake, its a popular place to swim. I am unsure about going in, I imagine it could be quite cold. Its quite deep, it gets to a depth of 186 meters and is also the largest fresh water lake in the southern hemisphere, roughly the size of Singapore! So that’s a lot of water that needs heating from the sun! I decide to brave it, I have a Gopro and I want to swim out to the pontoon and film myself jumping in.

I make my way into the water. Dad, James (my brother) and Lachie are already in the water and Lachie is getting thrown through the air in a chorus of laughter and giggles.

The water feels cold, but everyone else is in so I need to be brave. Getting in is always the hard part, but once I am, it is incredible. I wouldn’t even call it ‘refreshing’ because it wasn’t cold at all. I swim out to the pontoon, it’s further than I thought. I can swim, but I am not a strong swimmer and find by the time I get to the pontoon I am quite tired. As I have swum out there, jumping in is easy – I am already wet. And I get some great photos!

The water was absolutely gorgeous and I hope I get to have another swim while we are here. I have a bit of an irrational fear of being attached by a shark and this always plays in my mind when I am swimming, but in a lake, no worries! The perfect place for me to take a dip.

We finish off the day with a dip in the spa and have an incredible encounter. A kereru (very overweight wood pigeon) clumsily lands on a branch that looks way to thin to support its huge body only a few meters from us. It flies off after a couple of minutes but then returns, landing even closer on a post, about 3 meters from us. It then comes even closer, perching on the edge of the spa pool. I am no more than 1.5 meters from it. It was spectacular. Lachie and I sit in the spa, marveling at this beautiful bird, admiring the colours in its feathers, iridescent blues and greens and noticing how big it’s claws are. I have never seen a kereru this close up before. It is a really special experience. I love being perched up in the trees with the birds. I only wish I had had my camera on me!

Discovering Pukawa

On By exploringthelongwhitecloudIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s a grey, rainy day and the air is cool in Wellington, not holiday weather! But it will be good for travelling – it wont be a car sauna today. But less than an hour into the trip we are greeted with blue skies and sunshine.

We are heading to Pukawa, a small holiday spot on the South West edge of Lake Taupo. I have been to Taupo before but not Pukawa, I am looking forward to exploring a new place.

It’s a 4 1/2 hours car ride but we will make a few stops along the way, the first being a caffeine fix for Dad. Although we are travelling along State highway 1, our main highway, it’s not like the highways you have overseas – a lot of it is a single lane and takes you through varied landscapes. Coastal roads, country roads, a desert road and through forests.

Lunch is a simple picnic at Adventure Park in Levin. There is lots of playground equipment, including adult gym equipment. I have a good laugh at trying it out. There is even a human size ‘mouse wheel’. There were a lot of laughs on this one.

The next stop is to RJ’s licroice factory to pick up some essential supplies for the weekend, possibly buying a bit more than we need. We still have a long way to go so we jump back into the car and carry on.

We pass gorges and beautiful clear water streams, Taihape with it’s giant gumboot, the army camp in Waiouru before getting onto the The Desert Road. We didn’t see any wild Kaimanawa horses but there were some great views of the volcanoes- Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro which form part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The Desert Road is probably not a landscape that I would describe as beautiful, but it’s certainly intriguing. It’s vast and dry with scrubby bush. Simplistic, wild and untamed. A different landscape to what I am used to looking at.

As we approach Pukawa, Siri gives us direction to our holiday home but listening to her trying to pronounce some of the Maori names is rather entertaining. We past Steaming Hill, this area has a lot of geothermal activity and we can see steam rising up out of the trees. We get our first glimpse of the lake and it’s beautiful. The late afternoon sun is creating a golden glow on the water .

After a day of travelling, we arrive at our holiday home. And Wow. It looked good in the pictures but this place has exceeded expectations. Nestled amongst native trees and surrounded with birdsong, the place feels like a tree house. From the living room and huge deck there are views over the lake. It’s not long before we are making use of the spa pool, sipping wine and slipping into holiday mode as the sun goes down on our first night away.