In March 2001, I was lucky enough for my work to send me to New Zealand for a couple of weeks. I managed to have a brief trout-fishing trip on Lake Taupo that was an absolute spiritual experience. Lake Taupo is a water filled volcanic crater - there is some speculation that the under water volcano is still active. However I'm told that recently, a small submarine was used by a research group to explore the depths. Apparently, there was no lava found but plenty of under-water steam vents and the like.
Fishing on the lake is very easy for a tourist. There are ample charter services available for what I consider to be very reasonable rates. I also had the benefit of local experience by way of a lad named Darren Beaumont. He was quite keen to show me how outstanding the fish in NZ are and he didn't disappoint. However, there is an old Australian proverb that was passed down to me from from my grandfather about New Zealanders:
The next day, I headed South down the lake. At the southern end of the lake is the very active Mt Ruapehu. This volcano features prominently over the lake and is a very popular as a ski resort in winter. There is something weird about the thought of skiing on a volcano, especially knowing that it erupts periodically (1995 and 1996). The highway that stretches south is called the Desert Road - I didn't understand why until I drove down it. It is a very flat, featureless environment which is very different to other parts of New Zealand that I saw. The reason is that each time the volcano erupts, it flattens the surrounding country with large mud flows called La Has.
