Lake Taupo and the end of winter

It was so nice to go back home to Calgary to enjoy a few weeks of summer while the weather was wet and cold(ish) here. We had such a great time visiting all of our friends and family. I think we will try to visit home in August every year. Now it is officially Spring here in New Zealand, hooray! The days are getting longer and I don't have to turn the heat on during the day anymore. We still have to "pre-heat" the bed before we get in, so I guess we're not officially in the clear yet. Now that the overnight temperatures are mild, we have planted our first vegetable garden! We planted lettuce, beets, carrots, tomatoes, onions, blueberries, and a variety of herbs. Fingers crossed we get to eat something. Next up is a lemon tree and lavender, but we will see how this garden goes first!

So far this spring weather we're having is great. Daytime temperatures have been reaching 17 degrees and the sun is shining! We have got a couple rounds of golf in, and have already been offered free golf lessons. The golf course manager said if we take the lessons we can play unlimited golf until the end of January for $125. So free lessons and practically free golf. Umm... where do I sign up?! Some of the spring flowers are in full bloom and everything is so green and looking pretty. If this is what spring is looking like I can't wait to see what's in store for summer!

My favourite golf course. Look at that view!

Magnolia trees are in full bloom and are everywhere!

Beautiful magnolias.

Spring gardens

Fitzroy beach, a short stroll down the street.

Horse on the beach!

Enjoying a Sunday morning beach stroll

I just have to say, one of my favourite things about spring is all the baby sheep. They are SO cute! They are so playful and are constantly running around and jumping on each other. 

Babies with their mamas. I wish I took more pictures!

We planned to go skiing this past weekend but there has been a lot of rain and the conditions didn't seem very good, so we might have missed our opportunity this year. So we decided to drive to Lake Taupo instead to check out the town, more geothermal activity, and of course ride our bikes! The lake is the largest in all of New Zealand and offers lots of water activities but unfortunately it was a rainy weekend so we didn't get out on the lake. We instead got lost on our bikes, and ended up on a six hour wet and muddy (and at times not-so-fun) excursion. Apparently they don't do a very good job of marking the bike trails in Taupo, fyi. We managed to get back just before sunset, which is a miracle, as I don't know how we would have ever found our way out of that trail system in the dark! We did however get to see a few cool things on our ride.

Steamy rivers

Mystical forest trails! 

Huka Falls. The picture doesn't do the falls justice, they were pretty amazing.

The next day we decided to take in the sights and go on a geothermal walk (I refused to go on another bike ride)! We went to Craters of the Moon, which was an hour long walk through steamy rivers and giant craters filled with bubbling mud. Walking through the steam was really warm and had a faint smell of rotten eggs. I can't imagine it's very good for you to inhale that for too long! There were huge geo-thermal energy plants in Taupo. Geothermal energy provides around 13% of New Zealand's energy supply and is the country's most reliable renewable energy source as it isn't dependent on weather (unlike solar, wind or hydroelectricity).

Crater selfie

Bubbling mud!

Great Lake Taupo

 I love that there are so many un-manned food/produce/flower stands in New Zealand. The farmers will leave whatever they are selling at the stand with a box for you to put your money in. Very trustworthy! This stand had eggs. Yes, non-refrigerated. I think eggs in the fridge must be a North American thing as the grocery stores here even sell the eggs off the shelf!

Fresh egg stand