Saturday, June 19, 2010

2010/06/19 Lake Waikaremoana

[work in progress ]


There are more pictures stored here on my photobucket album


Yesterday I left Raglan and headed through Rotorua and down to Lake Waikaremoana .
It's been 5 years since I was on that road and this picture should tell you why ...




95km of winding gravel roads ... the first time I did it was in an old Toyota 1300 and I got tired of the slow journey and started going faster around the corners until I was so car-sick I had to pull over and sleep in the back of my car 45km from the lake .
The second time I took sea-sick medication to make it easier and got a little drowsy and crashed into the side of another car on a bend .....
After that I swore I would never go on that road again but now that I have my van and stop often to take photos it makes it easier and I must say the journey was pleasant in comparison to the times I was in a hurry to finish the trip .
 By taking things slower I ended up going down side roads for some different shots ....


Once you get to "the road" leading to the lake you have to be careful since it narrows down to one lane occasionally ....




I stopped occasionally when the road opened up for parking space




 The horse came up to have a look at the camera




 Eventually you get your first glimpse of the lake




 A few more minutes driving and you come across a waterfall








 There's a 53km walk you can do around the lake - the 'water taxi' can drop you off at the beginning and pick you up at the end . I've done that walk before and this time decided to head for the smaller lake "Waikareiti " , rated at a 1 hour walk . It took 45 minutes including the time taken to stop for pictures .










 There are quite a few waterfalls in the area within 5 - 10 minutes walk from the side of the road .




There are many views of the lake along the road ...












And my van parked at the campsite .....













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