The Taupō Trap
English-born Fleur laughingly recalls the way her plan to travel the length of New Zealand came to an abrupt halt in 2016.
“I was going to backpack for six months and Taupō was my first stop,” she says.
“The idea was to stay a month. Then it was the summer. Then a year. Then another year. It’s a common story here, they call it the Taupō trap.”
Fleur was 18 and fresh out of high school when she landed in the Central North Island and quickly found bar, café and restaurant work. She also found a gaggle of new friends and the fly fishing owner of Taupo’s Finlay Jacks Backpackers hostel, Finlay Smith. Fleur and Finlay have since married and had a son.
“I love it here. It’s just so beautiful. The quality of life is better than back home, there’s less stress, it’s just a bit slower. It’s that laidback Kiwi cliché that you can feel immediately; you can take a breath and walk along the lake.”
Online to offline
There are people who might argue with her claims about preferring life in the slow lane.
Fleur continued to work full time while completing her online computer science degree from The Open University in the United Kingdom. That led to a web development job at a Taupō company and then, after Covid struck, similar home-based work for international clients.
Meanwhile, her friends in the hospitality industry were hurting as customers stayed away and made their purchases from home. Businesses that had relied on face-to-face custom suddenly needed to create new websites and new online marketing strategies.
Fleur decided to help and set up a digital marketing company designed to send customers to hospitality businesses. Which in turn led to some small-scale food events, once lockdowns ended.
“Now, people really value in-person experiences because so much of life is virtual, or working from home. We’re more disconnected.”
A lightbulb moment
“And then I had this lightbulb moment that Taupō needs an event that champions food and the people who make it. We have some incredible chefs and world class producers and suppliers and cookbook authors and all round foodie talents here.”
Research led her to an impressive list of locals making gin and chocolate, brewing beer, growing premium meat or serving stellar meals.
“I want more people to know about these amazing businesses. Like Opepe Milk, just around from Mt Tauhara, which puts milk from local cows into glass bottles. It has none of the nasties, no food miles, it’s super sustainable and once you have it you’ll never go back to supermarket milk.”
In 2024 the inaugural Treats of Taupō food festival saw about 40 food producing businesses working together and creating new events. Chocolate and gin tasting, cooking demonstrations, a garden party, high tea and a degustation dinner were among the offerings.
“It was a huge success and I know it’s going to keep growing. I’m already having these great conversations about the collaborations that will happen at the next festival.”
Earning a pastry
“We are so lucky here, with the calibre of chefs and dining and food we have in our town. Finlay and I do love eating out and we’re spoilt for choice.”
When she isn’t immersed in all things culinary, or mothering, or playing her violin, Fleur likes to roam the region’s rivers and trails, or Taupō’s botanic gardens.
And once a week, she meets as many as 40 fellow ‘dip and sip’ cold water plungers on the shore of Lake Taupō. The group always gathers afterwards, sometimes with children in tow, for coffee and a treat from Lionel’s restaurant. Occasionally, in the depths of winter they cheat a little and find a geothermally heated stream, to warm chilled toes at the water’s edge.
“It’s more a social thing than an extreme health thing and people often bring their kids. It’s a really nice way to start the day, it wakes you up. And you really feel you’ve earned your pastry.”
Fleur’s Producer Picks (and where to taste/buy them).
Heritage Meats
Both the butchers at this boutique butchery are women and it’s just a great place to visit and grab homemade lamb sausages (with no fillers or nasties) but also their beautifully packaged tallow soaps. Try their meat at Hare & Copper restaurant in Turangi.
Opepe Milk
Visit Market Central to find their milk vending machine – love those glass bottles – throughout the summer season. The market’s a great place to meet most of the producers on my list, every Sunday.
Kinloch Honey
Try it in the Hilton Hotel’s Bistro Lago restaurant, over high tea. Their whole range is available online and it’s delicious, from multiflora honey up to the incredible 514 manuka that cures any cold.
Volcanic Chocolate
I was just blown away by their process. Paul and Sande make the chocolate from scratch and paint their chocolates by hand. It’s really impressive. Find their chocolate at The Merchant.
5 Mile Distilling
I really like their navy gin. It’s on the liquor list in plenty of great restaurants around town like Embra, Brantry, Plateau or Sorrento. Otherwise buy it at Liquorland.
Tui Street Gin
This one started out with a local farmer experimenting in his garage in Tui Street, Taupō. These days, it’s found at all the good eateries around town, including Ploughmans and Lionel’s.
Lakeman Beer
Aside from their mischievous labels, Finlay and I are fans of their IPAs. However, for something different, they also do really nice stouts. The best place to try their range is at Jimmy Coops bar on the waterfront, alongside a burger made with meat from the farm where they make their beer. Also available at Liquorland and The Merchant.
