Walking the Tarawera Trail and camping at Hot Water Beach

Usually, I like to go somewhere remote on long weekends, you know, to get away from the crowds. This time I decided to stay closer to home and walk the Tarawera Trail instead, adding a night’s camping at Te Rata Bay (Hot Water Beach). I had walked the trail before, the first time back in 2019. It was a humid and scorcher of a summer’s day - pretty much like this one.

A couple of days before, I made a last minute decision to join the Pinoy Adventurers NZ group on the trail. The last tramp I did with them was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing last winter. Unfortunately, 6:30am meeting time at Te Wairoa car park was too early for me (as I was driving from Whakatāne that morning), so I let them know I would be starting later and hoped to catch up with them along the track. That was a good decision in the end since I was the only one walking with a pack. It took me 5.5 hours to walk the 13.5km trail, and they got there an hour before me.

Lake Tawera trail from Hot Water Beach to Te Wairoa carpark

The Lake Tarawera trail in Rotorua is on many ‘someday’ lists, with the 15km track taking you lakeside as well as deep in the bush. It’s a beautiful yet challenging walk that shouldn’t be underestimated as the walk does require a good level of fitness. Being a solo adventure, I booked the water taxi to Hot Water Beach and walked back to Te Wairoa car park, where my car was waiting for me.

Totally Tarawera runs a regular water taxi service to Hot Water Beach from The Landing. If you plan to walk back to the car park from the beach like I did, there’s also a free shuttle to The Landing - just make sure to choose this option when you book the water taxi. The water taxi takes about 20 minutes, and owner Terry is a fantastic host. I share the taxi that morning with two friends, Anahera and Manaakitanga.