The countryside is laid out in a patchwork of rolling pastureland, ancient forests and native bush, wound through with rivers and streams.
Take off in a helicopter, charter plane or even a seaplane on the lake, and do a grand circuit over Huka Falls, the immense crater-topped volcanoes in the dual World Heritage-listed Tongariro National Park or the rainbow geothermal landscape of the hidden valley of Orakei Korako.
For an unforgettable view, take off from the lake on a parasail during the spring and summer and fly through the sky at 500-1000ft, getting a 360˚ coast-to-coast view.
