- How to find: New Zealand, North Island, Taupo region;
- Access: free of charge;
- Kinds of rest: eco-tourism, fishing, sailing
Taupo is a lake in the basin of the eponymous volcano on the North Island in New Zealand , located on the northeast coast of Taupo.
What is unique about Lake Taupo?
Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand, which is considered one of the richest freshwater reservoirs on the planet.
Lake Taupo was formed as a result of the eruption of the ancient volcano Oruanui about 27 thousand years ago. For a long time, water accumulated in the crater due to torrential rains and rivers, which changed their direction and began to fall into the lake.
The area of the lake is 616 km 2 , the deepest point is at a distance of 186 meters from the surface, in the heart of the lake. The length of the large diameter is 44 km. The length of the coastline Lake Taupo occupies 193 km. Its catchment area totals 3,327 km 2 .
By its nature, the lake is unique, the main part of its coast is covered with beech and coniferous forests. The land is mostly overgrown with various ferns and oleariic shrubs. The fauna of Lake Taupo is also diverse: in the lake there are various kinds of crayfish, small tulka, coconut and white smelt. The greatest popularity of Taupo was brought by brown (river) and rainbow trout, brought in the 19th century from Europe, California and the USA for breeding. Large sponges and other invertebrates gather at the bottom of the lake.
From the lake flows only one river of Huikato - the largest river of New Zealand, and flows around 30 rivers.
Among the New Zealanders and tourists, Lake Taupo is popular primarily for its magnificent fishing, trout with a weight of 10 kg is not particularly surprising, and the annual bike ride in 160 km around the lake attracts about 1 million tourists a year.
Volcano Taupo
Lake Taupo is located on the site of the super-volcano Taupo. Now the volcano is considered asleep, but it is possible that in a few hundred years he will recover from a prolonged sleep.
The first largest volcanic eruption of Taupo occurred about 70,000 years ago. On the VEI scale, 8 points were noted. In nature, about 1170 km 3 of ash and magma were thrown out. Also, a large volcanic eruption was recorded in 180 AD (7 points on the VEI scale), when the amount of lava ejected within 5 minutes reached 30 km 3 . The last time the volcano erupted in about 210 AD.
In the area of the Taupo volcano, various geothermal springs, geysers and hot springs are beating.
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