From our house it is a short walk to the lake or the other way to the shops,supermarket,restaurants and cafes and Taupo is home to the world famous Wairakei golf course where many find sanctuary on a golf course but it is rare to find a golf course that is a sanctuary, New Zealand's Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary is thought to have scored a world first! The ecological restoration is the first of its kind in New Zealand and was prompted by golf course owner Gary Lane’s desire to create a unique environment where golf and the natural habitat work in harmony.
30 mins drive and you can be in Rotorua looking at the bubbling mud pools and watching the thermal activity. It is only and hour 30 to Napier to some vineyards where you wine and dine .