Position 38 40.943S 176 04.075E

Lake Taupo is Australasia’s largest lake, its 187m deep in places and formed by a number of eruptions. The most recent event was a massive volcanic explosion sometime between AD 120 and 186.  Chinese and Roman literature records the sun and moon rising red as blood due to the clouds of volcanic dust.  The explosion threw 100 cubic kilometres, can you imagine, of rock into the air.  But that was small compared to an earlier eruption when they estimate 800 cubic kilometres of rock was ejected.  And here’s an interesting fact for you, it takes 11.5 years for a droplet of water to pass through Lake Taupo and into the Waikato river.  Anyway here are a few views.

We free camped the night in a car park by the edge of town.