RTW Trip Day #96: Lake Taupō, Huka Falls, and the Craters of the Moon Thermal Walkway

andrewsco3
Jan 5
2 min read

Updated: Jan 10

2 January 2026

Steps: 9,479

The walkway through the craters of the moon

This morning we left Napier and made the two hour drive to Lake Taupō. There aren’t too many stops along the route, but we did briefly pull over at the Waipunga Falls lookout to see the falls thundering down below.

We stopped in Taupō for lunch and I have to say that while the lake itself is beautiful, the town didn’t really impress me that much. The restaurants were mostly “burger, chips and a pint” type places along with lots of fast food, and it all felt a bit tacky.

The Huka Falls

However, just ten minutes away are the Huka Falls, which aren’t really falls as such, but more a narrow gorge where an enormous volume of water is forced through at an incredible speed.

It’s a real display of the power of water and well worth the short detour, especially considering it is free to visit.

The Craters of the Moon Thermal Walkway

After that we visited the Craters of the Moon geothermal area, which is only about a five minute drive away.

The walk follows a boardwalk loop that takes around an hour to complete, passing steaming craters, bubbling mud pools, and vents where steam pours out of the ground.

There are plenty of information boards along the way explaining how the craters were formed, the geothermal activity in the area, and how the vegetation has adapted to survive here. It was another great opportunity for the girls to get some science worldschooling in a genuinely interesting way.

Waitomo Big Bird B&B

In the evening we arrived in Waitomo and checked into the Waitomo Big Bird B&B, where we’re staying for just one night.

It’s fairly basic but includes breakfast, and it’s conveniently close to the Waitomo Caves where we have a tour booked for the next day. They also have a small petting farm with ponies and other farm animals, plus over 20 cats roaming everywhere, which made the girls very happy.

For dinner we headed to The Thirsty Weka in nearby Ōtorohanga. The butter chicken pizza was surprisingly really good, even though it sounds a bit strange, and we all liked it better than the pepperoni pizza.