A brief look back in time....
Taupo has an exciting and unique history in the thermal heartland of the North Island in New Zealand. Taupo and its legendary lake, is a unique New Zealand town whose birth started on the volcanic slopes, where western dead lands were swept by dust storms. This is a place rich and steeped in spiritual and cultural history in the coming of the Maori, and the struggle and endeavour of early European settlement.
Lake Taupo began its dreamy watery beginnings with a volcanic eruption in 186AD. This enormous eruption blew a 660 square metre hole in the earth sending ash into the atmosphere so high and so far, that the Chinese and Romans recorded these fiery red skies.
Tuwharetoa Maori arrived in the 13th Century being descendents from the Arawa, one of the great canoes from the great migration, and European settlement in 1830 began its early beginnings with the arrival of Christianity, geologists, traders, and settlers. In 1877 Taupo was surveyed into allotments and by the 1890's Taupo was flourishing, with sheep farming and an expanding business town. With better road access and transport Taupo was starting to attract travellers and the town was forming.
During the 1900 the growth and economic development expanded with farming, forestry, geothermal potential, tourism and lifestyle, making Taupo the exceptional and distinctive business, events and holiday destination it is today.
Getting to Taupo
Taupo "the center of it all" comes naturally for this great North Island tourist town. In the centre of North Island, Taupo is an easy location to stop and stay. The best way to travel to the Lake Taupo region is by car and within hours you will arrive at this stunning lake side town.
Being situated at the crossroads of the North Island has a lot of advantages. State Highway 1 is the main arterial route for the North Island, it links Auckland and Wellington. Auckland in the north, is 3 hours 30 minutes and Wellington in the south is a leisurely 5 hours 30 minutes.
State Highway 5 - the Thermal Explorer Highway - is a busy visitor route that runs from sunny Hawke`s Bay (2 hour drive to the south-east) to Rotorua (1 hour drive to the north-east).
Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand spanning about 622 km²; this is about the size of Singapore. Lake Taupo was formed by a series of eruptions. The main Taupo eruption occurred in 181AD. The most documented eruption in the Lake Taupo area is known as the Oranui eruption. The Oranui eruption caused some distinct changes in the landscape of the Taupo area. The most obvious of these changes being the distribution of lakes in the area, and the course of the Waikato River.
Prior to the Oranui eruption a lake existed in a different form, this lake is referred to as Lake Huka, and the Waikato River is documented to have run out to the Pacific Ocean via the Hauraki Gulf basin. After the Oranui eruption the landscape was changed significantly, after a period of flooding, the form of the modern Lake Taupo started to take shape. Over the years after the Oruanui eruption the course of the Waikato River changed to follow it’s current route along the Hamilton basin and out into the Tasman Sea. Currently the volcano is said to be dormant, however not extinct.
According to geological records, the volcano now known as Lake Taupo has erupted 28 times in the last 27,000 years. The full name of the Lake is Taupo-nui-a-Tia, which means the great cloak of Tia. Tia an ancestor of the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe, the main iwi of the area, was the first to come across the eastern side of Taupo. Legends documenting Tia’s great quest, suggest that Tia named the lake after he saw a rock formation that resembled his heavy cloak, he then hung this cloak, or taupo, on a post and claimed the area as Taupo nui a Tia, which means the Great Cloak of Tia. More than 30 rivers and streams flow into Lake Taupo, with only one outlet – the Waikato River.
Waikato River
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, with a distance of 434 km. Waikato is a Maori word meaning “flowing water”. The Lake Taupo control gate bridge controls the level of the Waikato River. The flow of the river is increased to meet high electricity demands during the day and early evening, overnight the flow the flow generally drops as electricity demand reduces.
The Waikato River is host to eleven power stations. These plants produce about 65% of the North Islands power, and about 25% of New Zealand’s hydropower. Overall these eleven stations produce 15 % of New Zealand’s total power.
Huka Falls
The Huka Falls is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most spectacular and most visited natural attractions.
Huka Falls are created by water that has flowed through a wide riverbed around 100 metres wide and 4 metres deep, that is then confined to a narrow river section about 15 metres in width and 10 metres deep.
At the top of the falls is a set of small waterfalls dropping over about 8 metres. However, the most impressive part of the Huka Falls is watching extensive amounts of water flow over a cliff 11 metres (35 ft) high. The flow over the Huka Falls fluctuates between 32 and 270 cubic metres per second. On average the daily flow over the falls is 160 cubic metres per second. Depending on the flow of water, the height of the falls fluctuates between 7 and 9.5 metres.
The unique blue colour of the water at the base of the falls is created by the clear water reflecting the blue light and the air bubbles in the water intensifying the colour further.
Huka means “foam” in Maori.
