Things to do in Taupo & The Central Plateau
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Tongariro River Rafting
The Tongariro River has some superb Grade III rapids for river rafting, as well as Grade I stretches suitable for beginners in the lower reaches during summer. Tongariro River Rafting can start you off with a three-hour trip on Grade II Tongariro rapids or take you on a full day’s raft fishing (summer only, price on enquiry). The company also hires out mountain bikes (two hours/half-day/full day/42 Traverse, $25/35/45/65) and runs guided and unguided biking trips on the 42 Traverse, Tongariro River Track, Moerangi Station, Tree Trunk Gorge and Fishers Track (two hours to full day, $70 to $160).
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Plateau
One of a growing number of brewery-branded gastro-pubs, Plateau is a great place for a drink (Monteith’s beer being the main poison), but the food is the key. The menu is predominantly modern NZ (think lamb rump and rib-eye), with plenty of fancy fusion twists.
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Brett Cameron
Offers boat charters (per hour $100, minimum three hours) and quad-bike adventure fishing in National Park (one/two people $750/850). Licences extra.
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Barbary
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Taupo Bungy
The picturesque Taupo Bungy site is the most popular on the North Island. It sits on a cliff edge over the mighty Waikato River, with plenty of vantage points if you’re too chicken to jump. Nonchickens will be led onto a platform jutting 20m out over a cliff (the world’s first cantilever jump, for engineering boffins) and convinced, with masterly skill, to throw themselves off the edge. A heart-stopping 47m hurtle and a few bounces back and it’s safely into the boat. You can also opt for a slight dunk in the river, or strap yourself to a friend and leap off together. Alternatively, try the giant swing.
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Taupo Museum & Art Gallery
The Taupo Museum & Art Gallery has historical displays covering the local forestry, nautical and trout-fishing industries, a mock-up of a 19th-century shop and a moa skeleton. There are regular visiting art exhibitions, too. The centrepiece of the collection is a Maori meeting house, Te Aroha o Rongoheikume, adorned with elaborate carvings. Situated in a courtyard, the Ora Garden of Wellbeing is a re-creation of NZ’s gold-medal-winning entry into the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show. It’s quite small, but features more than 1000 native plants and a steamy lizard scene.
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Butcher’s Pool
A 30km detour from Orakei Korako will take you to Butcher’s Pool, a bedecked but otherwise purely natural thermal spring in the middle of a farmer’s paddock. Alongside is a small parking area and changing sheds. To get there, turn left onto SH5 at Mihi (follow the signs to Rotorua). After 4km look out for Homestead Rd on your right. Follow it to the end, turn left and look for a row of trees lining a gravel driveway off to your right about 300m away (the signpost can be difficult to spot as it’s pointing from the other side of the road).
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Taupo Motorsport Park
Thrill seekers with petrol-head tendencies should head to the Taupo Motorsport Park. This state-of-the-art 3.5km racetrack and drag circuit has staged the A1 Grand Prix. There’s often something to watch here, from sidecar races to ‘drifters’ and, on occasion, the police testing their skills. You can get out on the track in a V8 or Formula Challenge Race Car with Formula Challenge, or superfast rides with a pro in the driver’s seat and driving tuition can be organised through Track Drive.
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River Walk Visitor Centre
About 4km south of Turangi on SH1 is the DOC-managed trout hatchery, which is a pleasant stop even if you’re not a fish fanatic. The landscaped walkway makes for a short and gentle stroll, and there are several interesting stops en route, including an underwater viewing chamber, a hatchery, keeping ponds and a picnic area. The River Walk visitor centre, run by volunteers, has polished educational displays, a collection of rods and reels dating back to the 1880s and a theatrette showing a 14-minute film about the river.
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Big Carrot
No matter who you ask in NZ, the name Ohakune means carrots; the town produces two-thirds of the North Island’s crop. In 1984 the township saluted the town’s biggest vegetable crop by erecting the Big Carrot, which quickly became one of NZ’s most hugged ‘Big Things’. Carrots were first grown in the area during the 1920s by Chinese settlers, who cleared land by hand and explosives! Today the Carrot Carnival is celebrated at the beginning of October with a parade and lots of dressing up in orange.
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Tongariro Lodge
Some of the world’s most famous blokes (Robert Mitchum, Liam Neeson, Larry Hagman, Jimmy Carter, Timothy Dalton) have come to this luxury riverside fishing lodge, set in 9 hectares of parkland, to relax in wood-panelled anonymity. Not surprisingly, the menu’s orientated around man-sized slabs of meat but the real squeals of delight come when a lucky lodger is presented with their day’s catch, smoked and served to perfection.
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Turoa Ski Area
Ruapehu’s Turoa Ski Area offers skiing to suit all levels: around 400 hectares of field each, both taking you up to a maximum altitude of around 2300m. Beginners are well catered for, with gear hire, ski school, good learner areas and some nice easy runs. During the ski season you can tune into SKI FM 93.4, Aerial FM 96.6 or Peak FM 95.8 for updates on the slopes, or ring the Snowphone.
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Whakapapa Ski Area
Ruapehu’s Whakapapa Ski Area offers skiing to suit all levels: around 400 hectares of field, taking you up to a maximum altitude of around 2300m. Beginners are well catered for, with gear hire, ski school, good learner areas and some nice easy runs. During the ski season you can tune into SKI FM 93.4, Aerial FM 96.6 or Peak FM 95.8 for updates on the slopes, or ring the Snowphone.
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Rafting NZ
Rafting NZ runs the Whitewater Tongariro trip (Grade III) with an optional waterfall jump (four hours, adult/child $119/109), or the Family Fun raft over more relaxed rapids (Grade II, three hours, adult/child $75/65). Groups of four or more can tackle an overnighter (Grade III+, per person $350), rafting to a riverside campsite and then hitting more rapids the following day.
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Scenic Cycle Rides
Scenic Cycle Rides runs tours on the Ohakune Mountain Rd, 17km downhill stopping at waterfalls and pools (two hours, adult/child $50/40), and the Ruatiti downhill, 19km downhill (three hours total, adult/child $60/50), with all necessary gear supplied. It also hires out bikes (road/mountain bike $10/15 per hour). Note: cycling on national-park walking trails is illegal.
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Brantry
Chef Prue Campbell and sister Felicity continue to run the best and most consistent restaurant in the region at this 1950s town house, a few minutes from the town centre. Dine in intimate, unobtrusive surrounds, inside or out. The menu makes use of some of NZ’s finest ingredients, including top-quality cuts of beef and lamb. The set menu (two-/three-courses $40/50) is a gift.
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Orakei Korako Cave & Thermal Park
A bit off the beaten track, Orakei Korako Cave & Thermal Park gets fewer visitors than other thermal areas. But, since the destruction of the Pink and White Terraces, it is arguably the best thermal area left in NZ. Although three-quarters of it now lies beneath the dam waters of Lake Ohakuri, the remaining quarter is pretty interesting.
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NZ River Jet
NZ River Jet will zip you in thrilling fashion from Mihi, 20km upstream on the Waikato River. They also offer the Squeeze – a jetboat ride through Tutukau Gorge to a spot where you can disembark in warm water and edge your way through a crevice to a concealed natural hot spring surrounded by native bush ($130).
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Taupo Hot Springs Spa
Taupo Hot Springs Spa has a variety of mineral-rich indoor and outdoor thermal pools, freshwater pools and a giant dragon waterslide for the young ones. Adults can enjoy a wide choice of treatments, such as massage and body scrubs. There’s a health-food cafe on-site as well as picnic and barbecue facilities.
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Powderkeg & Matterhorn
The Powderkeg is the party bar of the Powderhorn Chateau, with bands in winter and regular dancing on the tables – once the detritus of the burger and pizza meals have been cleared. Upstairs is the swankier Matterhorn, serving cocktails and sophisticated bar snacks as well as relaxed but chic à la carte dining.
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Taupo’s Floatplane
Located at the entrance to the marina, the floatplane does a variety of trips, including quick flights over the lake and longer ones over Mt Ruapehu or White Island. Packages include the Taupo Trifecta Combo (floatplane trip, followed by a jetboat trip and a walk through Orakei Korako; $385).
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L’Arté
A 10-minute drive from town will reward you with a fantastically artful cafe in an ebullient sculpture garden with a gallery alongside. Lots of mouth-watering treats are made from scratch here, including the pesto that sits on the must-have antipasto platter. The home baking is a triumph.
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Wai Maori
Wai Maori offers guided white-water kayaking (November to April, per person $129) or trips accompanied only by trout down the gentle Tokaanu Stream to Lake Taupo, passing boiling mud, hot pools and wetlands on the way (90 minutes/half-day/full day $30/40/65).
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Replete
Widely regarded as one of Taupo’s best cafes, Replete’s counter is packed full of delicatessen delights – running the gamut from sandwiches and salads to sweets. Its pastry selection is particularly commendable. A blackboard menu offers inexpensive and interesting light meals.
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Pihanga Cafe
The Pihanga is a consistent performer with good-value meals along the lines of soup, salads and fancier fare such as osso bucco. Next-door, the T-bar is a cosy spot for a winter warmer or a beer outside in the sunshine.
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