Time to head a little further south-west along the volcanic zone and right into the very heart of the North Island – next stop, Taupo. This town sits on the shores of the sprawling Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand and actually the caldera of the Taupo super volcano. Yes, that is actually as terrifying as it sounds. Recent research has shown that this mega volcano is still very active, and has actually suffered over 700 mini tremors in the last year alone. It’s still at a very low alert level, but I wouldn’t wanna be around if this bad boy did blow – given that it has previously been responsible for the two most violent volcanic eruptions the planet has suffered in recent geological times. I mean we’re talking bye bye New Zealand kinda level here. But it’s not likely. Not imminently anyway. Apparently! And so, life just goes on as it always has, 5 kilometres atop the bubbling magma below us.

Lake Taupo is the source of the mighty Waikato River, which drains the lake as it winds through the town and out towards our first stop of the day, the spectacular Huka Falls. The most striking feature of this river, as it surges underneath the tiny viewing bridge which leads you to the Falls, is the colour of the water. If you were to ask a child to draw a river, they will invariably reach for the blue crayon. But very seldomly will you ever see a river that is actually blue. Sometimes greenish, fairly often just a muddy brown colour, but very rarely blue. Well, this river is blue. The water is so beautifully clean that when it is forced down these narrow rapids and over the falls it fills with air bubbles and creates the most amazing colour. Just upstream, this river is about 100 metres from bank to bank, then it narrows to a 15 metre ravine before reaching Huka Falls, resulting in an impressive 220,000 litres of water crashing over it every single second. It’s quite a sight, and you can also view the base of the falls where the jet boats loaded with thrill seeking tourists perform donuts as close to the raging Falls as they dare.

Just up the road from the falls is the Huka Honey Hive. For some reason, this curious place is counted as a bona-fide tourist attraction, despite being a glorified honey shop. But the draw of free honey tastings was too much to ignore, so we checked it out to see what the buzz was about (quality pun there).

They do produce their own honey here, and you can view the resident bees doing their stuff via the transparent hives from inside the shop. But they also sell hundreds of different honeys from all over New Zealand, and you can taste them all here too, side by side. There are also various meads and sauces, as well as a huge range of honey and pollen based cosmetics to browse, and bee based video games to keep the kids entertained. All in all it’s a pretty interesting place if you’re in the area with half an hour to kill. 

Before we finally checked into our Airbnb, we checked out the Lake itself and took the prerequisite selfie with the #LOVETAUPŌ sign by the waters edge. We were also pleasantly surprised that our Airbnb had an incredible view of the river from our bedroom, and you could even see the notorious bungee jump station just around the corner – not that I was gonna be tempted, I think those days are well and truly gone!

As if we hadn’t seen enough volcanic landscapes in the last few days, the next day we were off to see one more. The aptly named “Craters Of The Moon” is a geothermal field covered with… you guessed it, craters! Hydrothermal eruption craters to be precise. When the pressure beneath the steam field builds to a critical point, an explosion occurs blowing the surrounding rocks and mud high into the air and creating the craters. These events occur on average once a year, resulting in a constantly shifting scarred landscape of barren and brightly coloured holes, steaming fumaroles and even bubbling mud pools. Thirty years ago, in an effort to safeguard visitors as well as protect the site from vandals and thieves, a Trust was formed to develop the modern day visitor experience. You cross the site via an elevated boardwalk which takes around 45 minutes. This site is well worth a visit as you can get really up close and personal with the steaming vents at the paths edge. So close, in fact, that you can literally feel the heat warming your feet as you walk. Just be sure to stick to the designated tracks, as the ground is pretty fragile, and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that you could fall through the thin mineral crust on the ground and straight into the mouth of a steaming vent – ouch!

Taupo is the home to the “World’s Coolest McDonalds”, and it was lunchtime! Seriously, Google it if you don’t believe me, but this fast food joint tops every list of “coolest McDonalds” on the internet, and it even has a sign to prove it. The reason? This restaurant serves its burgers inside a decommissioned vintage DC3 aircraft. You can sit and eat your Big Mac with a view of the cockpit, while watching the kids through the window, playing in the play park beneath the wings.

After our brief aeronautical pit stop, we headed off to the local DeBretts Spa Resort, to make use of their swimming pools and water park. But this wasn’t to cool down on a hot day, quite the opposite. You see, the two swimming pools, kids splash park and water slides at BeBretts are all filled from a natural mineral hot spring, and are maintained at around 40 degrees. It’s like sliding into a bath, and is the perfect place to relax and waste a few hours while the kids muck about in the splash park. A word of warning though – after a few hours soaking in a hot bath, the walk back up the hill to the carpark can be pretty challenging!

One more day in Taupo, and it was time to visit the real Middle Earth. Nestled in the middle of a 1200 acre sheep farm, near the town of Matamata in the Waikato region lies a major piece of Lord of the Rings history. The Hobbiton Movie Set is the location of the Hobbit-inhabited Shire in all six of Peter Jackson’s movies, and you can now have a guided tour of the perfectly preserved and maintained set – and it’s just like stepping into the movie. Now, I’m not a die hard LOTR fan, and the rest of my lot have never even seen the movies, but it’s still a fascinating place. You get a real first-hand look into the incredible attention to detail and workmanship that goes into creating these movie sets, and making them look truly believable. The tiny details you notice as you wander past Bilbo Baggins’ Bag End home, like hobbit washing hanging on the lines, and the gently smoking chimneys, coupled with the behind-the-scenes stories told by the knowledgeable guides really lend a sense of wonder to the tour. You don’t quite know what’s real and what’s not, as you find yourself picking an apple to discover it is real while the blackberry bush next to it is a brilliant fake. The oak tree that sits above Bag End is revealed to be a fake, with all the 250,000 hand sewn leaves having been painstakingly individually resprayed at Jackson’s request just before filming, as they were ever-so-slightly the wrong shade of green. I guess it’s that kind of meticulousness that sets the truly great directors apart from their peers.

The 1200 acre farm on which Hobbiton is situated has been owned and run by the Alexander family since 1978, and is currently home to around 13,000 sheep and 300 beef cattle. When Jackson’s scouts spotted it from their helicopter while searching for locations in 1998, the lush rolling hills and the ancient oak tree overlooking the lake reminded them of a slice of ancient England. And due to the fact that the location was completely unfettered by the trappings of the modern world – no power lines, no roads, no buildings – it meant they could fully immerse themselves in transforming it into Middle Earth, away from any prying eyes.

It honestly is a beautiful place to visit, and well worth the exorbitant fee as it’s a veritable one-off experience. The tour culminates in a free mug of ale in the infamous Green Dragon Pub overlooking the lake, where you are free to enjoy the roaring fire or dress up in Hobbit gear and jump behind the bar for a selfie or two before the bus transports you back out of the Shire and returns you to the starting point.

The next day we left Taupo and began to make our way back towards Auckland to pick up the Motorhome for the final stage of our antipodean journey. After spending the night halfway in the fairly uninteresting town of Hamilton, we managed to squeeze in one last surfing lesson for the kids in the nearby surfing Mecca of Raglan. This funky little town offers up some world renowned breaks for the professionals amongst you, and a decent little learner wave for the likes of my two. Couple that with a laid back, hippy town vibe and you’ve got something in the same sort of league as Byron Bay in Australia. The kids had a great lesson under the tutelage of Bing from Green Wave Surfing, and it made for a perfect final stop before bedding down near the airport in Auckland, ready to swap our car for a van the following day, and continue our adventure on to the South Island.