A geothermal warm welcome
Unlike an irrelevant little lakeside village in the South Island, Taupo¯ is an adventure tourism giant – and an entrepreneurial hotbed.
Busloads of tourists bustle into the central North Island town every day, bubbling with excitement.
They’ve options aplenty: mountain biking, wakeboarding, bungy jumping, and skydiving.
These are all activities that don’t use the lake.
If you’d prefer to relax, wander the six shopping streets in the town centre.
There’s something for everyone – we have two streets full of bars and restaurants, and stunning lake views.
Like coffee and cafes? Tekapo has three . . . or try Taupo¯ , with 18 cafes in the town centre.
Wait, 18 cafes? Mental, right? How do all these businesses get by?
Probably thanks to the big events hitting Taupo¯ every second weekend – the Winter Festival, Ironman New Zealand, Graffiato Street Art Festival, Taupo¯ Summer Concert, the Great Lake Relay.
And then there’s the Lake Taupo¯ Cycle Challenge, when more than 6000 cyclists descend to ride around that big puddle.
If a 160km road race is a bit far, there’s 80km, 40km, and 10km options, as well as four mountain biking races.
So, lapping the lake is a pretty wacky idea, right?
Taupo¯ is an ideas town, and smart businesses make this possible.
The geothermal energy under our feet is being used to generate power, sure.
But it’s also being used for its direct heat value – drying milk powder at Miraka, growing tomatoes at Tuaropaki, drying timber in kilns at Tenon and, of course, farming whopper prawns in warm water at the Huka Prawn Park.
The thing about Taupo¯ is, locals love the outdoors as much as visitors.
Ironman New Zealand had 1074 finishers in 2018, and 2200 volunteers helped out.
The local Craters Mountain Bike Park, maintained by local enthusiasts, has 50km of tracks for beginners, intermediate and advanced riders.
Riders can weave through the exotic pine and eucalyptus plantations all year round – thanks to the volcanic pumice soil, tracks don’t get bogged down and muddy.
Feel like a bushwalk? Wander to the Huka Falls or up Mt Tauhara.
The mountain is only five minutes from town, and the 2.8km trail takes you through native trees to the summit. From here, enjoy the view across Lake Taupo¯ to Mt Ruapehu.
Here’s another local favourite: jump on an inflatable bed at the start of the Waikato River, at the heart of Taupo¯ , and float down the river.
It’s a cruisy, two-hour ride ending at the free Spa Parks thermal hot pools, which pour into the lake.
PS: It’s best to stop before the Huka Falls. PPS: The Huka Falls is New Zealand’s most visited natural attraction. Just saying.
Taupo¯ is growing, with new subdivisions currently for sale, being built, and being planned.
The cost of a house is still affordable, with existing homes from $200,000.
Taupo¯ ’s strong economy stands firm on four diverse industries: geothermal, forestry, agriculture and tourism.
Most tourists come to Taupo¯ , for the lake, New Zealand’s largest, with a 616 square kilometre surface area.
That’s plenty of space for waterskiing, trout fishing. Or you might head out to the rivers for a spot of fly fishing.
Tourism spending in Taupo¯ grew by 9.4 per cent in 2017, compared to the national average of just 6.4 per cent, so it’s catching on.
Tekapo might have one good photo opportunity, but Taupo¯ offers albums of great photo ops, from the lakes to the geysers to the mountains.
So forget little Lake Tekapo.
The heart of the North Island is the place to be – and we welcome you all.