Who lives in Taupo?

[A&R]

Who lives in taupo here? thinking about moving down....

Whats happenning to all you lot GR81 off to canada, Boom in Gizzy, your taliking Taupo what the hells wrong with JAFA country!!!

[Danger]

This is funny Adam, a few months ago you were selling all your stuff and giving up on dirt bikes.

[Pierce]

Whats happenning to all you lot GR81 off to canada, Boom in Gizzy, your taliking Taupo what the hells wrong with JAFA country!!!

Cos they is nowhere to ride.

why the F#*k am I moving up there? haha

[Boosted]

haha excatly theres fuck all places to ride, taupo is in the centre of it all plus have their own wicked track....

I was going to give up, but screw it haha might aswell have a blast and see where i can get

[kiwifruit]

Is nice

[Aero165]

Yeah Taupo is a nice place. Plenty of places to ride both road and dirt

[Pierce]

Certainly close to everywhere. Even Hamilton where i'm at now is close to a lot of good tracks whereas auckland its a big mission to get anywhere good to ride. Especailly trails.

[camchain]

Hey there GTAe. Here's another point of view. I grew up in Turangi, (south end of the lake) from '71 to '81. It was a rough power project town with a bad crime rate. On the plus side, back then you could ride almost anywhere.

Area seems to produce some handy riders too (self excluded!) - Townley, Nick Saunders, vet rider Paul Burgess and his enduro champ son Reece (now TGA) come to mind. Vet rider Mark Delatour, one of the guys who gave a good account of himself in recent ISDE in Greece still lives there. (There's nothing in the water - must be the lack of cobalt in soil!)

Taupo track back then was a far cry from what it is now. Our main local track was a pumice pit (known as 'the canyon') opposite the golf course. Spent most weekends there and quite often after school 'til dark as well. You could ride all the way to Taupo going through the forest tracks. Riding could be had in almost every direction. Did some stints further south out in the desert which was pretty amazing. Acres of land in every direction. No doubt strictly verboten these days. Might squash a snail or scuff some tussock. Pumice is weird stuff. Packs hard but mainly good traction as it's gritty and it drains incredibly well. Have to watch crests with steep downhills on the other side as after heavy rain, what was fine the week before can suddenly have deep rain ruts chewed into it. Very nasty if not careful. Moved back down in '83 worked at Wairakei geothermal for a bit, then construction at Rangipo underground power station (under Kaimanawa ranges). Guys would bring rifles to work and shoot the odd deer on the road near the portal.

Never really got into trout fishing but plenty hunting down there. Pig shooting was very popular and Land Rover was a common vehicle in Turangi. I was mainly glad to leave the place (moved to Hamilton) but obviously Taupo is a much nicer town than Turangi. The bugger is I only got into skiing after leaving so didn't take full advantage of what was on offer. Did a season as a lifty at Whakapapa, had the time of my life and headed off for another season in Austria as ski bum afterwards.

Yes - can be very nice on a good day with mountains glistening white in the distance, but I well remember the area gets a lot of icy strong wind in the winter, and there a precious few fine days (like you get all the time in Otago winters). You're very exposed next to that huge lake. A mate moved from AK to Ohakune and keeps telling me to move back down but I'll never go back to the volcanic plateau. I found the place too bleak, especially in winter. Nothing decent grows there on account of the poor soil. Abundance of gorse of course, broom and blackberry - plus the occasional pine tree and the odd carrot further south.

[mattwood]

whats the motorcross track down there like, digger mcewans?

me and a friend are going down there to ride if for 3days, well im just tagging along really, hes going to train.

Just wondering what its like, and if anyone has any pics? is it all good in the wet?

[Boosted]

ive got some pics but they are all over 3mb each haha, but its a mint az track and thanks so much for that camchain

[svr]

I moved to Taupo 3 years ago. Observations:
Plusses:
1. Central
2. Mecca for mountainbiking
3. Outdoorsy
4. Great scenery (lots of very clean tourist girlies)
5. Just the right size.
6. Great racetrack (er the sealed one, although I'm told Digger McEwan is ok too)
7. Its currently getting a SH1 bypass which will give the town a major shot in the arm.
8. It has perfect weather for 3 months of the year

Minusses
1. the locals are a bit rough (the ave. salary here is low)
2. Its bloody expensive to buy a decent house
3. The weather is cold for 9 months (but pretty dry and clear - it pisses down now and again but none of that drizzly shit for days on end)
4. Pretty thin on (local) talent
5. Check on this but I think Digger McEwan might be closing down in a year or so...(?)
6. Being a small town it takes 10 years to be a `local', so they tell me.

Hope that helps.

[Danger]

How will the bypass be a major shot in the arm? Be even harder to find a decent feed in Taupo with less people passing through.

[svr]

How will the bypass be a major shot in the arm? Be even harder to find a decent feed in Taupo with less people passing through.

Not very pleasant eating with a large truck going past every 20 seconds! Trucks and people dont mix. Taupo is a destination town - not really about people stopping for a feed. Hopefully the main street will get basically blocked to through traffic, lots of bars, cafe's, restaurants, couple of high rise hotels etc.

[mattwood]

ive got some pics but they are all over 3mb each haha, but its a mint az track

oh, sweet thanks anyway!

[Boosted]

haha well that sucks if that track gets closed down then not much point!!!! haha but a plus is so close to the mount for snowboarding