Omaio

06/03/2025

FEBRUARY WAS VERY WARM IN TAUPŌ

According to a weather release by NIWA Taupō recorded a near-record mean temperature of 19.6C, 2.2C higher than normal for February. This was the fourth-highest mean temperature since records began to be kept for Taupō in 1949.

The town's mean maximum air temperature of 25.8C was also the fourth-highest on record.

The town with the highest mean temperature was Kawerau, which is not very far from Taupō in the direction of Tauranga.

09/02/2025

LAKE TAUPŌ - ALWAYS SPECTACULAR

The views of Lake Taupo and Tauhara from the patio at Omaio are always spectacular but sometimes they are more interesting than others.

This morning at dawn Tauhara was backlit by the rising sun and looked dark and ominous.

Omaio is a large six bedroom, four bathroom luxury holiday rental. It has a pool, spa and large screen movie room. Sleeps 14 in flexible bed arrangements. Can have six rooms for six couples or several rooms with long single beds.

For more details about the house, including how to book through the managers, see or phone 07 376 7163 or e-mail [email protected]

07/02/2025

THAT WAS AN ACTION-PACKED 20 MINUTE STORM!!!

No power cut at Omaio and most of the rain fell a little further north but plenty of thunder and lightening.

Thousands of people are reported to have lost power this evening.

04/02/2025

TAUPŌ #4 IN BOOKING.COM'S SURVEY OF "MOST WELCOMING CITIES IN THE WORLD"

For a number of years the website booking.com has looked at the reviews those have booked through it have provided and compiled a league table of "cities" in the world. This year Taupō has been placed 4th on the basis of the feedback.

A significant proportion of Omaio's bookings come from booking.com.

Taupō's council has in the last few years put a lot of effort into making the town more attractive to visitors. It has redeveloped the foreshore and what used to be SH1, built a new children's park in Tongariro Street, and encourage major events like SuperCars, the round the lake cycle, the Epic swimming event, and the half and full IronMan.

In the longer term, the council has made some other smart moves. It facilitated the relocation of SH1 to a bypass about 15 years ago. At about the same time it supported the creation of a world first emissions reduction scheme to reduce the nitrate runoff from farms and other land uses into the lake. Nitrate encourages growth that causes cloudiness of the water.

Short-term rentals and backpacker accommodation are key parts of the strategy as major events could not be held without the flexibility of accommodation capacity they provide. Building hotels and motels for the surge of visitor numbers for 4 or 5 big events would not be economic and would not happen.

Taupō's strategy can be contrasted with that of Rotorua, which has actively discouraged short term rental capacity by increasing new conditions and imposing additional taxes. It has done this on the mistaken view that this will relieve a general accommodation shortage the town has.

Rotorua's policy is good news for Taupō, which is rapidly replacing it as the major tourist destination in the thermal area of the country.



https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bookingcom-traveller-review-awards-2025-taupo-among-most-welcoming-cities-on-earth/2VMX7YEPFNCK3E5UKEFYQBSTUQ/

The destination received the accolade as part of Booking.com's Traveller Review Awards.

01/02/2025

TAUPŌ'S MCDONALD'S IN THE NEWS AGAIN

An article in the NZ Herald reviews a book about unique Maccas around the world. The old DC3 plane at the restaurant in Taupo features.

The restaurant is always worth a visit when in Taupō to see a bit of aviation history.

My first ever flight in the early 1950s was from Christchurch to Paraparaumu on a DC3 flown by NAC. The commercial airport at Rongotai in the city had not opened. Travel to Wellington by air involved landing at the airport on the Kapiti Coast.

Much later - in the mid 1960s - I flew several times on a DC3 between Wellington and Blenheim.

New York Times: New book showcases unusual McDonald's locations - including one in NZ.

22/10/2024

UBER EATS COMING TO TAUPŌ. WHERE'S DOORDASH?

The food delivery branch of Uber has announced it is adding 12 new locations in New Zealand where you can use it. Taupō is one of the new locations.

A number of local restaurants and take aways already offer delivery but being able to use Uber Eats will expand the options for guests at Omaio and add to the delivery options for local businesses.

Uber Eats operates in 30 countries around the world. They are most of the places you would expect, except in Scandanavia. They are in Sweden but not elsewhere, at least according to the Uber Eats New Zealand website.

In the US DoorDash has a significantly larger share of the home delivery of prepared meals market than Uber Eats. It also operates in New Zealand in several locations but when you enter into its website the address of Omaio - 25 Māpara Road, Acacia Bay, Taupō there are no restaurant options.

More Kiwis will be able to order kai through Uber Eats.

15/10/2024

OMAIO IN TAUPŌ: Built for holidays for large family groups

The architects for Omaio designed a large house that made the most of spectacular views of the lake and Mt Tauhara for a multi-generation family to share on holiday. It sleeps 14 plus two infants in cots.

A well-equiped kitchen is the hub of a large open plan space with a family lounge and informal dining area. Two sets of folding doors from this area open to a large patio with a BBQ and sheltered outdoor dining area.

The 11m indoor swimming pool with endless pool machine provides fun and exercise for all ages. The spa pool overlooking the lake is a great place for groups to meet and relax.

The home theatre provides a venue for entertainment. In addition to Sky TV, there is a "heritage" DVD player and collection of classic movies. There is a smart TV in the formal lounge so not everyone has to watch the same thing.

For the less mobile in the family, there is a lift between floors and flat access to the house from the forecourt and internal garage.

The upper level patio overlooks a big flat lawn, ideal for games of cricket, football, croquet and disc golf. There are two public tennis courts and two children's playgrounds in the park 100m away.

The property is fully fenced and 50m down a private lane.

There is a kitchenette by the home theatre and a drinks scullery upstairs close to the patio.

The house has beds for 14 in six bedrooms. Three of the bedrooms have hotel style flexible beds that can be made up as either one SuperKing or twin Long Singles. There is up to 11 separate beds. There are, in addition, two port-a-cots. There are four bathrooms with four showers and two baths and two half bathrooms, one on each floor.

To rent Omaio for your next family holiday contact the managers - Lakeside Accommodation - on 07 376 7163 or at [email protected]. The house is also listed on Lakesides webpage - llat.co.nz - and most booking sites like Airbnb and Booking.com as Omaio. Pricing is for the whole of the house and starts from $1,200 per night.

15/10/2024

NEW THERMAL POOLS AIMED AT FAMILIES BEING DEVELOPED IN TAUPŌ

The Huka Prawn Park, which uses heat from the Wairakei Geothermal Power Station to grow prawns, has been a popular Taupō tourist destination for many years.

Its new owners are complementing the prawn fishing with thermal pools. The nearby Wairakei Terraces & Thermal Health Spa is for adults only.

The new pools at the prawn farm will be aimed at families. There will be a family pool and a toddlers pool and slides. They will use heat exchangers to heat the water for the pools using waste energy from the nearby power station. This allows the water to be treated like a swimming pool and makes them more suitable for children who will want to play in the water and splash about to use.

The very popular Hanmer Springs facility uses, for most of its pools, similar heat exchanger technology. It pioneered this approach among spas in the 1980s. There was skepticism at the time from those that thought the minerals in the geothermal water were essential to attract people to use the pools. This proved to be wrong. The family friendly approach proved to be very successful.

The new pools could be open as soon as February 2025.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-hot-pools-being-built-at-huka-prawn-park-in-taupo/VRPYRBJ5IREGJBCB2MKWIQIAUM/

The new facilites are for families and will complement the adults-only Wairakei Terraces.

25/09/2024

TAUPŌ RESTAURANT #4 IN TRIPADVISOR'S NZ CASUAL DINING AWARDS

The headline news is that Auckland restaurant The Grove has been ranked 9th in TripAdvisor's 2024 Travellers' Choice Awards for the Best of the Best Restaurants in the world.

TripAdvisor uses the reviews and opinions it receives to rank restaurants in 60 countries in various categories.

Taupō's Roquette Restaurant and Bar was ranked fourth in New Zealand in the casual dining category. It came in behind a couple of restaurants in Queenstown and Barrel & Co in Rotorua. It was one place ahead of the well-known Casita Miro on Waiheke Island.

Roquette is located in Tongariro Street opposite the children's playground in the park and just down the road from Luna's Gelato shop. There is plenty of parking close by and several taxi services operate in Taupō.

Indulge in exquisite cuisine and ambience at Roquette, the premier Taupo restaurant. Experience a culinary journey like no other. Book now!

13/09/2024

MOVIES IN TAUPŌ

The only picture theatre in Taupō shut early this year. The site is being redeveloped for retail shopping. The theatre will reopen, if and when, a suitable new site is located.

In the meantime, locals have had to go to Rotorua to see features on the big screen. There is talk, however, of a pop-up cinema operating for a few months from the Council's Great Lakes Centre in Tongariro Street.

Omaio has its own home theatre. The equipment includes a blu-ray Panasonic disc player. There are over 100 DVD discs in the library.

Since Omaio also has Netflix and, it and other movie streaming services, can be accessed through the App facility on SKY, the focus of the library collection is "classic" and children's movies. There are also a few old music DVD's.

The discs are mainly ex-rental stores bought from Op Shops that acquired the stock of video rental shops as they shut.

It's old technology but good for an evening of nostalgia watching a favourite movie from a few decades ago. A swim in the pool, a soak in the spa, bowls of popcorn from the machine in the kitchenette, some drinks from the scullery and a favourite romantic comedy. What's not to like?

There are instructions on how to operate the disc player and get the 5-channel stereo sound system running in the home theatre.

08/09/2024

ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS

I am old. So old that I can remember when computers with very limited capacity - less than my current phone - took up whole floors of large office blocks and you used reels of computer tape to program them and provide them with data.

Throughout much of my adult life there have been proponents that super-conductors and hydrogen fuel will deliver great benefits in the search for efficient energy. Both technologies have found a place in the world but neither has so far come close to delivering to the extent their more enthusiastic advocates have promised. The snag has been that the energy required to utilise them is generally costs as much or more than what they deliver.

Humans have known for a very long time that as you dig down in the earth the temperature rises. Mining for tin, lead and copper and for coal, which have gone on since the Bronze Age, revealed this.

Using geothermal energy to create steam to drive turbines and generate electricity has been around for about 70 years. It is not a big step from using natural thermal fields to think about injecting water into the earth to tap the geothermal energy.

One of the issues with this simple idea is ensuring that you get enough energy out for what you need to put in to do it. That has been a challenge, as it has been for super conductors and hydrogen. It appears like a couple of American entrepreneurs have cracked how to do this by drawing on technology used in the gas industry. The attached video explains.

If the promise turns into a reality it will mean that geothermal energy generating electricity will become much more economic in many places. However, places like Taupō that have a lot of energy relatively close to the surface are still likely to have a significant advantage.

A great thing about geothermal energy is that it is ideal for generating base load electricity and providing industrial steam. Common alternative fuels for both uses in many parts of the world are brown coal and oil. These are the fuels that many wish to switch away from to reduce greenhouse emissions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rguJPPWAJr8

Abstract: Geothermal energy has undergone a renaissance over the past 15 years, as many new technologies and new countries have joined the industry. Climate ...

08/09/2024

GREAT VIDEO OF ORUANUI ERUPTION

There is an article in today's New Zealand Herald about scientists believing they have found in Australia traces of the volcanic glass created during the Oruanui Eruption of Taupō. If correct, this underlines the incredible power of this eruption that happened about 25,000 years ago.

Embedded in the article is a link to a video simulation of the eruption and the evolution of Lake Taupo after it. It shows the lake level was initially higher than at present but as the Waikato River outlet eroded downwards until it hit the hard rock that created the Huka Falls, the lake level fell.

Not really a surprise, but fascinating to see a simulation of the development of the lake level over time. What is a bit of a surprise in the simulation is that it shows there was initially another large lake to the north of Lake Taupo.

Discovery in Australia has scientists pointing to prehistoric super-eruption at Taupō.

05/07/2024

COOL THINGS IN TAUPŌ

There are lots of things for people to do in Taupō and quite a few of them are a big thrill for young people. Three of our favourites are:

Luna's Gelato shop on Tongariro Street opposite the children's playground on a sunny afternoon. They have a row of chairs outside on the footpath where you can sit and enjoy your ice cream in the sun. Why do complete strangers chat at outside Luna's?

The cliff for jumping off just to the east of the Maori Rock Carvings at Mine Bay. The carvings are fantastic but if you go by your own boat or swim to the carvings you can use a rope hanging down a nearby cliff to scale the cliff and jump into the lake. There are several places to jump in from at different heights. Watching people go higher and higher as they gain confidence is interesting.

McDonalds in Ruapehu Street has a DC 3 aircraft you can eat your hamburger and fries in. It's a favourite with tourists and locals. Some years ago a website named Taupō as having the coolest McDonald's in the world.

'I couldn't believe my eyes ... I’ve never experienced anything quite like it.'

02/07/2024

SECOND WAIKATO BRIDGE AT TAUPŌ

Taupō has been experiencing significant growth in the last few years. The geothermal power stations built and expanded are one factor. The expansion of tourism, much of it focused on events like the ironman and round the lake challenge, is another.

Taupō is also well located for on-line businesses serving the North Island and a number have popped up e.g. Chef's Complements. The plentiful supply of relatively cheap residential lots is another factor.

Traffic volumes over the two-lane control gate bridge across the Waikato River have risen steadily since the eastern by-pass of SH1 was opened in 2010. It is now back to levels before the by-pass when SH1 went across the control gate, down Tongariro Street and along Lake Terrace.

The bridge has returned to being a significant bottle neck for traffic between north and south Taupō at busy times of the day.

The council has decided to bring consideration of a second bridge forward by three years from when it was previously scheduled. It will now be looked at in the next long term plan in about 3 years for now.

The council currently thinks the alternatives to another bridge have already been put in place or are not feasible or practical.

Detailed planning for a second Waikato River bridge in Taupō to get under way soon.

26/06/2024

GEOTHERMAL WEEK

Next week - Monday 1 July to Saturday 6 July - Taupō is hosting 18 events to mark Geothermal Week. They range from art tours with a volcanic theme to serious seminars on the management of greenhouse gas emissions from geothermal bores. The theme for the week is heat from geothermal energy.

The use of geothermal energy in and around Taupō has developed a lot in the last 5-10 years. There are a couple of new tourism ventures based on it - the Wairakei Terraces thermal pools and the Aqua Park.

There have also been several new geothermal power stations built and some existing ones upgraded or expanded. The future prospects look very promising for use Taupō's geothermal energy to produce more baseload electricity to complement other forms of generation.

The article below list the highlights and provides links to the itinerary.

The event theme highlights the “Immense value of our taonga, our geothermal resources.”

21/06/2024

RUAPEHU DISTRICT - A DAY TRIP FROM OMAIO

The Ruapehu District, which is to the south west of Taupō, has an economy heavily dependent on tourism. The three volcanoes - Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe - the forested areas, and the headwaters of the Whanganui River are the key attractions.

For the last couple of winters there has been uncertainty about the future of snow sports on Mt Ruapehu. It is all go on the three fields - Whakapapa, Tukino and Turoa - this season, but the future of Whakapapa on the northern side of the mountain in future years is still to be resolved.

The district is currently running an ad campaign aimed at drawing domestic tourists to the area this winter.

Naturally, it features snow sports but it also highlights winter tramping, mountain biking and general site seeing. The mountains are always impressive but not so sure that mountain biking and tramping at altitude in mid-winter will attract many.

A trip to Whakapapa for skiing, snowboarding and sledging from Omaio is a great way to spend the day. According to Google maps it is 109 km and 1 hour 30 minutes by car from Omaio to the Top of the Bruce, the car park and bottom lift station for the Whakapapa field. The shortest route is to go through Taupō, head south on SH1 to Turangi and from there use SH47 to the turnoff to the Chateau Tongariro and Whakapapa.

Leave the heatpumps on in the house set to 21-22 degrees and ensure the spa pool is cranked up to 40 degrees before you go. There is a boot dryer in the garage.

Pick up coffee at the roadside stand in the carpark on the south side of the bridge over the Tongariro River at Turangi.

15/06/2024

TAKE THE GRANDCHILDREN ON A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER

The architects for Omaio in Taupō designed a large house for a multi-generation family to share on holiday that made the most of spectacular views of the lake and Mt Tauhara.

A well-equiped and well-stocked kitchen is the hub of a large open plan space with a family lounge and informal dining area. Two sets of folding doors from this area open to a large patio with a BBQ and sheltered outdoor dining area.

The 11m indoor swimming pool with endless pool machine provides fun and exercise for all ages. The spa pool overlooking the lake is a great place for groups to meet and relax.

The home theatre provides a venue for entertainment. In addition to Sky TV, there is a "heritage" disc player and collection of classic and children's DVDs. There is a smart TV with a second Sky service in the formal lounge so not everyone has to watch the same thing.

For the less mobile in the family, there is a lift between floors and flat access to the house from the forecourt and internal garage.

The upper level patio and family lounge overlook a big flat lawn, ideal for games of cricket, football, croquet and disc golf. There are two public tennis courts and two children's playgrounds in the park 150m away. The house has lots of sports equipment.

The property is fully fenced and 50m down a private lane.
There is a kitchenette by the home theatre for making pop corn, heating pizza, and preparing drinks and a drinks scullery upstairs close to the patio.

The house sleeps 14 in six bedrooms. Three of the bedrooms have hotel style flexible beds that can be made up as either one SuperKing or twin Long Singles. There are also two port-a-cots.

There are four bathrooms with four showers and two baths. There are two half bathrooms. One shower has a califont so teenagers cannot exhaust the hot water supply.

The house and its facilities definitely have the "wow" factor and make a memorable holiday. Outside the house, Taupō has plenty of things for all ages to do. See the lovetaupo.co.nz website for a comprehensive guide.

There are currently a few mid-week vacancies in the three school holidays between now and 2025.

To rent contact the managers - Lakeside Accommodation - on 07 376 7163 or at [email protected]. The house is also listed on most booking sites like Airbnb and Booking.com as Omaio.

Pricing depends on numbers but starts from $1,000 per night.

10/06/2024

KIWI FILMED IN KARORI

The owners of Omaio operate Karori ShortStay, another short term rental property. It is located on South Karori Road, Wellington. It is surrounded by regenerating bush.

Last year a number of kiwi were released on Terawhiti Station a short distance to the south of Karori ShortStay.

A few nights ago a cyclist returning from a ride in the Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park came across a kiwi on the side of South Karori Road. He filmed the bird climbing the bank and posted the video to "I Love Karori" on Facebook.

From the white post in the film, the bird was on the road in the gorge opposite Karori ShortStay; about 20m from the gateway. This point on the road is approximately 5.0 km from Parliament in a direct line, so at least one of the released kiwi has moved amazingly close to the centre of Wellington in a very short space of time.

Maybe the kiwi was headed to the bus stop about 200m further up the road to get the 1:20am bus into Courtney Place and the bars! Yes, there are after midnight buses to and from this part of the city. They will cease operation in October 2024 at which time the ordinary bus service to Karori will run later at night and start earlier in the morning.



https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=7490440271053915&ref=sharing