Enjoying a great central location in town and being an easy five minute stroll from the shoreside of famous Lake Taupo, Haka House Taupo brings a touch of backpacker luxury to the Taupo accommodation scene.
With private and shared room options available, and facilities that include a fully equipped kitchen, dining and living room, movie room, hot tub, outdoor terrace with BBQ and garden, laundry and free Wi-Fi, guests will find Haka House Taupo to be a convenient and comfortable homebase that’s close to cafes, bars, pubs and supermarkets, as well as the many Taupo tourist attractions and activities waiting to be discovered.
And much there is to discover, with Taupo being particularly popular among nature-lovers and outdoors enthusiasts. Nestled along the edge of Lake Taupo – New Zealand’s largest lake with a surface area roughly the size of Singapore – this is a destination where the days can be spent enjoying the likes of trout fishing, mountain biking, hiking and trekking, sailing, cruising, kayaking and river rafting, and the evenings whiled away with lakeside meals and relaxing dips in naturally heated geothermal pools.
Among the must-see places to visit in Taupo are the thundering Huka Falls, the fascinating Craters of the Moon geothermal valley, the beautiful Maori rock carving at Mine Bay, and the deliciously entertaining Huka Prawn Park. All of these are great Taupo family activities, too, for Mum and Dad traveling with the kids.
Ten minutes’ drive from Haka House Taupo, north out of town, Huka Falls is an awe-inspiring spectacle of nature’s power. In what can be described as something like a fire hose being fed into a fine nozzle, the 100-m wide Waikato River suddenly enters a shallow ravine of hard volcanic rock through which the previously placid waters roar and surge before bursting out over the 11-m falls to a turbulent crescendo below – at over 220,000 litres per second.
Just three kilometers from Huka Falls, the hissing and bubbling landscape of geysers, craters and boiling mud pools known as Craters of the Moon can be viewed from a network of wooden boardwalks and viewing platforms.
Reached only by boat or kayak, the Maori rock carving located at Mine Bay on Lake Taupo has become an iconic cultural attraction of the region since being created in the 1970s by master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell. The main carving is over 10 m high, and took four summers to complete.
Huka Prawn Park is a 10 minute drive from town, with plenty of entertainment and activities like aqua trikes, pedal boats and stand-up paddleboards, water cannons and an interactive adventure trail, as well as a tour through the onsite nursery and hatchery with the chance to hand-feed baby prawns. At the riverside restaurant, giant freshwater prawns can be enjoyed in delectable fashion – by the kilogram tossed in garlic butter, in a curry, or lightly battered with a crisp cider or local craft beer.
During the annual ski season of June to October, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tongariro National Park with its three mountains – Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt. Tongariro – offers world-class skiing an hour and a half’s drive from Taupo. The action is focused mostly on Mt. Ruapehu, with two of its three ski areas – Whakapapa and Turoa – being the largest in New Zealand and boasting some of the country’s longest ski runs.
This 80,000 hectare national park is actually home to some of New Zealand’s most dramatic and most beautiful landscapes. Emerald lakes, subalpine meadows, old lava flows, lush forests, volcanic slopes… it’s an area of staggering natural beauty that rightly places it among the top Taupo tourist attractions and places to visit in Taupo.
Various walking trails offer the opportunity to explore this amazing area, among them the one day Tongariro Alpine Crossing (19.4 km), half day Taranaki Falls Track (six km), and four day Tongariro Northern Circuit (45 km).
Walk into any Haka Hostel, and you’ll discover stories of Māori culture, told through custom-created mural paintings. Each mural gives a glimpse into fascinating legends, and an introduction to the artistry of the Māori people, brought to life by Charles and Janine Williams, local contemporary artists who are passionate about sharing their heritage.
Long renowned as a geothermal wonderland, a nature-lover and outdoor-adventurer’s playground, and a center of Maori culture, the list of things to do and places to visit in Rotorua – one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist destinations – is both a long one and a fun one!
Occupying a fantastic location on the shores of stunning Lake Wakatipu, within minutes of Queenstown’s shops, restaurants and charming pedestrian avenues, is an absolute jewel in cosy and modern hostel-style Queenstown lakefront accommodation – the aptly named Haka House Queenstown Lakefront.
Haka House Aoraki Mt Cook couldn’t be better named and it couldn’t be better located – nestled snugly as it is into the gorgeous alpine landscape of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and with the mighty Mt Cook, stunning Tasman Glacier and gorgeous Southern Alps mountain range all on its doorstep, making it the best Mt Cook hostel for mountain walks.