Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest inland stretch of water (area over 600 sq.km), is a remote and peaceful location in the heart of the North Island. After some 300,000 years of relative calm there was a series of violent eruptions in this area in the 2nd C. AD, when immense amounts of volcanic ash and pumice were spewed out and spread over a huge area. Later the empty crater collapsed, forming a caldera, and the accumulated mass of detritus prevented the water collected in the crater from draining away. Thus Lake Taupo was born.

When this last great eruption in the Lake Taupo area occurred New Zealand was probably not yet occupied by people, but its effects were felt across the world, as records from China and the Roman Empire attest. In New Zealand itself the massive beds of pumice and ash are impressive evidence of this great natural catastrophe. The visitor center of Tongariro National Park (in the village of Whakapapa, to the south of Lake Taupo) illustrates, by a comparison with the devastating eruptions of Mount St Helens in the United States and Krakatoa in Indonesia, the stupendous power of the explosion that gave birth to Lake Taupo.

A circuit of the lake involves a drive of some 150km. On the east and south sides the road runs almost continuously close to the shore, with magnificent views, passing a series of holiday settlements. Beyond Waihi, because of the hills, it runs at some distance from the lake.

There is a variety of boat trips available on the lake. Sailing boats, steamers and motorboats take visitors to see the rock carvings by young Maori artists and the cliffs at Karangahape, which can be reached only by boat.