We were both up early to shower and get on our way. We took Totty to the kennels and it is about half way there when she realises where she is going. She wouldn't get out of the car and then the lady had to carry her to the kennel - only for one day!
We decided to go through Tokorroa and then turn off and head down the left side of Lake Taupo, a road we have not been on before. On the whole it was a really good journey even though the weather was not very good. We stopped for coffee near Turangi, a little place on the main road and had a huge coffee and a huge muffin. By the time we got back into the car it had started to rain heavily and it was not looking good.
By the time we got to the village of Whakapapa the weather was getting really bad and there was a lot of mist and rain. The Chateau looked lovely when we arrived but you couldn't see the mountain or the snow behind and I knew it was there.
The hotel was lovely and we were upgraded to an 'executive suite' which was huge with a lovely gas log fire, central heating and under floor heating and hot towel rail in the bathroom. More heat than we have seen since we left the UK.
We unpacked and then went up to the mountain. It was raining and there were all sorts of lovely tropical plants growing and then they changed to low growing alpine plants and lots of little waterfalls. We seemed to go up a long way before we eventually started to see snow. We drove up to car park 1 and were able to park as so many cars were leaving. There was lots of snow up here. We changed into our snow boots, hats, gloves and scarves and then we set off up the hill. There were lots of people around on skis and snowboards or, just like us, walking and having a look around in the snow. It was quite difficult to walk on and there was no view which was a real shame. We didn't go higher on the chairlift as you couldn't see anything so we didn't think it was worth it.
After taking photos and a walk around we went back to the car and then down to Whakapapa to a cafe for lunch. We had some lovely, hot vegetable soup and a roll. We bought some postcards and then braved the weather again. We went to the information centre where we watched two videos of how the, according to the Maori people the mountains came to be, very interesting.
We then went back to the hotel to find a bottle of champagne and some chocolates in our room. We settled down in front of the fire and had a glass of champagne and read our books. I had a little sleep.
We got ready for dinner. I love the underfloor heating in the bathroom, a real treat. We had more champagne and a play with the camera to take a photo of us both. We then went for dinner which was really good. We had lovely dip of pistachio, almonds and fennel seeds with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and hot bread, really good. Jon started with ostrich and I had smoked duck pancakes with soy dip. Jon then had rack of lamb and I had fillet of beef. And we ended with white chocolate creme brulee and rhubarb crumble and cinnamon ice cream. Our waitress was really nice, she was from Wellington with an English boyfriend and very chatty. She told us we could go and sit in the lounge and she would bring our coffee to us. All the staff were so friendly and helpful. We sat and listened to a man playing the piano while we drank our coffee before going to bed feeling very full.
WEATHER
Not too bad in Tauranga. Awful in Whakapapa!
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