More sightseeing around Taupo and Half Ironman

Tags: New Zealand, Tauhara, Taupo, hiking

Date: December 14, 2024

Evening at the house we stayed at in Taupo:

You can see the large Lake Taupo which is used for all sorts of outdoor activities. Taupo is quite a popular town for tourists with many things to do.

One day, we went for a hike on the local mountain called Tauhara which is important in Maori legends. The hike started out going through meadows with nice views from the start:

After a little while, we got to a very lush forest:

Views from near the top:

This is Taupo from above:

Felicie at the top with Lake Taupo in the background:

The peak is at 1088 m of elevation, but we started the hike at 550 m, so didn't have to go all the way from sea level.

The surface of Lake Taupo is at 356 m of elevation and it is about 40 km long and 30 km wide making it the largest lake in New Zealand. It is the remains of a huge volcanic crater that formed in a very large eruption about 25,700 years ago. The eruption is the worlds largest of the last 70,000 years and covered most of the North Island of New Zealand in ash. 18 cm of ash has been found in the Chatham Islands 800 km away. Before the eruption, there was a lake now called Lake Huka in this region, but the landscape was completely changed, so the resulting crater lake is considered a new lake called Lake Taupo.

One of the reasons that we were in Taupo at exactly this time is that the half ironman world championships was held there on December 14 and 15. Thomas and Charlotte had done their homework and qualified for the event. The first day was the women's race and here Charlotte is looking good:

During our whole stay, the town was full of athletes with over 5,000 participants. You could always see people training in the days leading up to the event. During the race, lots of people came out to see it. Much of the running route was right next to the lake:

Charlotte's support team:

The race went well for Charlotte and the day after, it was the men's turn. Here is the winner of the professionals, Jelle Geens from Belgium, during his run:

The local hero was Hayden Wilde from Taupo:

He is a very good triathlete and was actually leading most of the time. He got caught by Jelle Geens during the run and he finished second.

Thomas showed up a bit later, but was doing well:

Both he and Charlotte were happy with their races.