For me, one of the very best things about New Zealand is how close the "bush tramps" are to town. Taupo is a good example, although the tracks are less wild. Starting from the Spa Park near the river, there's a nice track up past Huka Falls to Aratiatia dam. Not far from the start is a hot water stream. I can't resist going in straight off rather than waiting for the return trek. The water is extremely hot (I came back here again several days later and the water was cooler and the place deserted) and the setting is gorgeous. I stay in too long though and am light-headed when I get out.

While trying to shake off my spa head, a wild and slightly crazy Maori guy starts chatting with me. He says he lives in the bush, eating ducks (snatches them and pulls them underwater until they drown) and trout (spears them with wire) which he cooks in the hot stream. He feeds me a lot of shit about how he jumps into Huka Falls (I don't fully realize this until I get there though) and has a Swiss girlfriend that he prances around naked with at night. He's a likeable rogue though and no dummy either. I think he does live in the bush at least part of the time. Before he can do his leap into the falls today he has to sit down and smoke some "ganja".

Huka Falls isn't all that tall, almost more of a rapids, but it still would be a feat to jump into. A large volume of water shoots through a small area for about 100m before shooting out into a final plunge. The water moves so fast that getting bounced into a rock would be disasterous. Over it in a sturdy barrel, no sweat, but not without some kind of protection, and that doesn't include ganja.

The long tramp to the dam climbs high above this crystal clear river, heads through a spooky pine forest, and rolls along pastures and scrub land. One traveler told me about a spot where: "you climb a hill with a lookout point, expecting the great views you had earlier, but instead see a horrid prawn farm and hydro-electric plant." I find the spot he was speaking of, only remembering the conversation after the view.

The only other spoiler is the "huka jet" boats. Every once in awhile some yo-yo hotdogs a horribly noisy speedboat full of brainless tourists up the river, making skidding turns as often as possible. Supremely beautiful as Taupo is, it has a few egregious tourist traps in the worst possible (most natural) sites. Aside from Huka Jet, there's Taupo Bungi, spoiling a scenic cliff, the many skydiving outfits buzzing overhead, and an incredibly tacky golf game right in Lake Taupo! Unbelievably, golfers hit balls into this otherwise perfect water, trying to make an impossible hole in one in a cup atop a small offshore platform.

I don't want to go on about the negative things though because I had an idyllic day. After stopping off for a shorter dip in the host stream, I walked out to the middle of a field and lay down on a sunny hilltop. Truly, I didn't have a care in the world and felt very close to nature, listening to bird sounds, feeling the breeze, touching plants and smelling flowers. After awhile, I made my biggest decision of the day and moved to a shadier spot and removed my shoes.

On another day, I went for a long bike ride on country roads and forest tracks. With good bike, map, and weather, this would have been a perfect day, but I have none of these three, so it was good and bad. I was rewarded with two serendipitous sights though.

First, after losing my way, I find the river and start heading back along it. I get near the dam and stop to admire the quiet stream of water, lazily dropping into calm pools that look perfect for swimming or fishing (I can see large fish at the bottom). Then I hear a series of strange beeping tones. Looking up towards the dam I see that they are lowering the gates, releasing water over the dam. Before long the torpid stream becomes a raging rapids! The transformation was fascinating to behold.

Next spectacle, up at Craters of the Moon, they've just reopened half of the park after extreme thermal activity made the area unsafe. The other half will no doubt remain closed for a long time. While hiking through the valley there, which is full of steam vents, I hear a noise like a large airplane taking off. A huge amount of steam rages out of one of the larger fumaroles, very near to me. The rapid expulsion continues for several minutes, completely enveloping the entire valley in a steamy fog.

The YHA at Taupo sucks, but I don't know of a better alternative.