Lake Taupo

Maori carving

Lake Taupo is New Zealand’s largest lake (covers 234 square miles), and is located pretty much smack dab in the middle of the North Island.  It is actually a caldera of a volcano that has been filled in with water.  The lake is said to be the same size as Singapore - equally amazing is that Singapore has a population of 4.8 million, while all of New Zealand has 4.3 million people!  The Taupo volcano last erupted 26,500 years ago, and we learned that its eruption would have spewed debris over the south and north islands, as well as parts of Australia.  Yikes!  The entire area is still volcanically active – in fact, there’s a section of shore on the lake where you can dig a hole in the sand and it will fill with hot water – you can create your own thermal pool! 

Lots of black swans live at the lake

Besides all things to do with the water (fishing, swimming, etc), one of the lake’s main attractions are Maori carvings (33 ft high) in a cliff on the lake, only accessible by boat.  They were carved by a master Maori carver in the 1970s and took about a year to complete.  They depict the visionary Maori navigator who guided two Maori tribes to the Taupo area over 1,000 years ago.  We took a boat out to see them and they were quite impressive.  Being on the lake gives you a sense of how massive it truly is.

On another note, here is a funny story we heard about a town we drove through on our way to Lake Taupo called Palmerston North.  It is a dairy and sheep farming region, which also happens to be the home of New Zealand’s largest college, Massey University.   The town is described as having “an open minded, rurally bookish vibe.” John Cleese visited the area (for some reason) and said, “If you ever do want to kill yourself, but lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.”  In return, the city named its landfill after him:  Mt. Cleese!  J

Daron swimming in the lake

We are headed to Auckland next, mainly because we lost the visa photos we brought with us.  They are necessary when you apply for a visa for different countries.  The photos have very specific requirements and we found a place online that can do them for us quickly.  We’re not sure where we lost them along the way, but in the whole scheme of things I can think of worse things to lose!