Kayaking in Taupo to Geothermal Hot Pools – Day 299

Today we’re going to be kayaking to a natural thermal spring.

This morning we’re waking up at the awesome Taupo Urban Retreat and despite the fact there is supposed to be a few showers we are still heading on the water with Canoe & Kayak.

Once we arrive at Canoe & Kayak in Taupo we are greeted by the adorable staff look at this little guy he’s so cute. And then we are getting our gears together ready for the adventure ahead.

The tour we’re going to be taking today is the Waikato River Float which is taking a kayak down an easy section of the Waikato River stopping off at a natural hot spring to bathe in for a while then continuing on the water.

After taking the time to do a bit of training on how to paddle a kayak despite that fact that to be quite honest with you guys we’re not going to need to paddle whatsoever since the current of the river is going to do all the work for us we are heading onto the water. Our guide is named is Rob which may I say is an amazing name and he’s telling us heaps about about the Mighty Waikato River.

The Mighty Waikato River gets its mighty name from the fact that it’s the longest river in the whole of New Zealand and on top of that it starts from New Zealand’s largest lake which is Lake Taupo. Another reason why it’s a mighty river is because thanks to all the dams which are lined on the Waikato River it generates power for a very large portion of the North Island of New Zealand.

In fact right now we are paddling between two sections of the river that have been dammed meaning that the water level here is controlled.

In fact, the Waikato River is such a high volume river generating that much power there is pretty hard to comprehend its scale it’s one of the deepest rivers in New Zealand but when you look at it it doesn’t look that deep because the water is that clear.

It is just an amazing place to be. This river is super wide giving us plenty of places to play around plus the current is actually super powerful making it super easy for us to navigate through honestly if we wanted to stop paddling right now we would make our way easily to our destination in no time.

About three quarters of our way through our kayaking tour we arrive at the Otumuheke Stream which is a free natural hot spring found in the Spa park area of Taupo.

After we get the kayaks out of the water we change into our togs which is Kiwi speak for swimwear and then we go and find the perfect spot for bathing in the hot springs but as you can see this is a pretty busy place to be in summer.

Secret spot here in Taupo. Too many people read our guide.

The really awesome thing about these hot springs in Taupo is that there’s different places to bathe with different temperatures the closer you get to the Waikato River the colder the water gets which is a little more bearable to bear and then the further up the stream you go the hotter the water gets which is just lush.

After unwinding for about half an hour in those super relaxing hot pools we hop back into our kayaks and continue the rest of our tour.

This kayaking tour to be quite honest is one of the easiest kayaking tours we have tackled in New Zealand and it’s perfect for kids if you’re travelling with a family honestly this is the safest bet it will take you on an amazing river it will take you to see a few geothermal features and it gets you on the water having fun.

But you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it if you’re just a beginner at kayaking and you don’t feel that confident on the water, that’s the perfect tour to get initiated what kayaking is.

Once we get off the kayak we take the time to dry ourselves before packing up the kayak.

Alright we made it we did kayak the Waikato River, that was pretty intense no it wasn’t but it was pretty nice. Yes it was.

The good thing about Canoe & Kayak is that the whole tour starts and finishes a very short drive away from taupo central making it a breeze to organise.

But the main story of the day is tomorrow is Day 300 we are starting finally the last leg of our trip it is getting epiccer and we celebrate Day 300 in a major way we’re going skydive, in a major way and you won’t believe what we’re gonna be doing tomorrow we’re doing skydive it’s gonna be amazing we’re going skydive.