Lake Taupo is a beautiful lake near the center of the North Island of New Zealand. Our first week-long timeshare was on the northern edge of the lake. This is one of the major areas of NZ where tourists come in the summer—to swim, ski, and

do lots of other things. The lake is rated as one of the cleanest lakes in the country, if not the world.

One of the interesting activities was trying to hit balls into various cups

on an island green – for money. No, Judy and I didn’t try this!

On a cove in the northwest corner of Lake Taupo, we found a pretty sailboat. Some

days had dozens of boats on the lake enjoying the summer breezes.

The intrepid vacationer Bob decided he just had to swim in a

New Zealand lake in January.

Though the sun was out, it was NOT that warm and

the water was pretty darn c-c-c-c-old!

Judy’s favorite place to eat was a fast food burger bar—since they had “gluten-free” buns! Bob decided to try Ginger Beer, but only once: it was horrible.

While driving around the lake, we stopped at a camp site…and explored the

shoreline. Bob found the shell of this small lake-dwelling crustacean.

One of the many bars in Taupo was Finn MacCahal’s—a great pub!

Finn’s served a lot of different beer. Lion Red beer is very

popular in New Zealand.

An interesting sign in Finn’s bar; Bob and Judy had great meals on the bar patio.

On a day trip, we spied this huge

tree and a quaint church. Note the pine cones—they grow “up” on the

needles!

A non-denominational country church had a pretty little cemetery behind it.

One headstone is shown here.

Judy shopped in several stores in Taupo and other cities in NZ—for

some quilting material for Judy and a good friend of hers.

Near an art store in Taupo, Bob spies this cute metal doggy in the

grass outside the store.

One of the most unusual McDonald’s we’ve ever seen was in Taupo—a DC-3 could

be accessed by the kids!

Two shots of the unusual tree forests that dotted the

landscape around Taupo and most of New Zealand. Note how clean the trunks are until the limbs branch

out about 20 feet up.

Every day, we would see folks having fun parasailing over Lake Taupo. Note the nice

snow-covered peak south of the lake (even in summer). Also, there were seaplanes picking

folks up and taking them for scenic cruises.

One of two shots I took of the gorgeous sunsets over the lake. The skies would

go from blue to blazing orange as the sun slowly

set in the southwest.

Some evenings, with more cloud cover, the pinks and

blues would create a gorgeous canvas over the lake. Lights on the shore

are from homes.

Another nice bar I checked out was The Shed; the back-lit

glass panorama under the bar was beautiful. Note a variety

of beers served with taps.

There weren’t many folks in the bar, which I found a little

confusing. Most of the vacationers were families, so out on the lake. Spring break

would probably have seen more activity.