This is the twenty-first in my series of short reflections on different places in Australia and New Zealand, as experienced during my November 2019 visit. Today is the fifth of my posts on New Zealand’s North Island.


In my last post I wrote about our visit to another of New Zealand’s most iconic attractions: a visit to the Glowworm Caves at Waitomo.
After this, we continued on our journey, now heading south-east to Napier, along roads lined with golden broom, and en route we were to stop off at Lake Taupo.

85 kilometres from Lake Taupo, we reached Waituhi Lookout, and walked up to view the sublime vista in which we could clearly see a distant snow-covered extinct volcano.

As we drove on we saw all around us golden broom interspersed with new young pines in plantations which had been logged.
We reached Lake Taupo, sparkling and dynamic, waves washing over black volcanic sand.
A little further on we reached a lookout over the lake from Lake Terrace – all around us and before us we could see golden broom, green grass, azure water, snow-capped mountain peaks with a dark green tree intersecting the panorama.
SC Skillman, psychological, suspense, paranormal fiction & non-fiction. My next book, Paranormal Warwickshire, will be published by Amberley Publishing on 15th June 2020 and is available to pre-order now either online, or from the publisher’s website, or from your local bookshop.
Isn’t Napier really beautiful, Sheila, with its wonderful Art Deco. My mother was born there and her family relocated to Wellington just before that huge earthquake!