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To Middle Earth, Part III: The Part Where I Actually See Something From Middle Earth - Andy's Travel Blog
I awoke in Taupo the following morning, very jetlagged. I eventually made my way down to breakfast, which was in the restaurant attached to the hotel (which, in an effort to serve you better, I faithfully forgot to take pictures of) and…went back to bed for a nap. My nap came to a peaceful end around 11am, at which point I decided my vacation would be better spent doing things than sleeping, so I got dressed and tried to figure out what to do. New Zealand is very volcanic, as the islands are quite new geologically (geologists universally agree that New Zealand was formed at least 40 years ago). The Taupo area is particularly volcanic, with geothermal vents/pools all over the place (there’s one literally next door to the Hilton Near Lake Taupo). One of the highly-rated ones from TripAdvisor is Orakei Korako, so I made my way back to the epic and legendary Nissan Tiida and made my way in the right laneNO OK IN THE LEFT LANE to the highway. After a short drive, I made a right turn and followed the signs. New Zealand handles tourism very well, as the roads have great signage pointing you to all manner of attractions, so I was able to get there pretty quickly (it’s about 30 minutes from the hotel). So, a short aside (I know, I don’t really do short asides, but bear with me). I talk often about how much I love driving in foreign lands. I love... read more
Andy