New Zealand travel blog

2017 was a unique year for us. The first ever year to be spent entirely in a new to us…

At some stage I was ready to admit we’re some sort of travel losers. Imagine having a tour cancelled TWICE due to the weather conditions… Doesn’t sound too bad? Wait until I tell you the tour is located in the SUNSHINE CAPITAL of New Zealand. Yep, story of my life:) But after the success of our third attempt to visit White Island (I bet, you have guessed by now), I truly believe the timing was just perfect!

During our first trip down to ‘The Heart of North Island’, Taupo wasn’t even on our radar, to be honest. We intended to spend a night there and drive to Whakapapa Skiing Resort the next morning. Avid snow fans, we couldn’t think of a better way to spend the whole weekend, rather than on the sunny beautiful slopes of Mt Ruapehu. Apparently, things don’t always go the way you pictured it. At the bottom of the mount we were greeted by a severe storm, wind, rain and snowfall – pretty much all the natural disasters you can think of. We managed to have some fun anyway, but after pouring tons of water out of all our boots, jackets and helmets and a good half an hour in a hot bath, we decided to play safe and stay in Taupo on Sunday. And God, though I definitely didn’t have enough snow this winter, I never regretted this decision. Taupo is a wonderful town with lots of exciting and unique activities.

White Island is the ONLY active marine volcano in New Zealand. Obviously, a trip to Bay of Plenty is not…