In early June, we took a long weekend get away to Lake Taupo which is a ~3 hour drive from New Plymouth. Lake Taupo is a huge lake in the center of the North Island in New Zealand. It's a fun little town with great shopping and great restaurants. It's also an active geothermal area. We stayed at the Hilton Lake Taupo which was a beautiful hotel (see our room above and below) - it reminded us a lot of the Inn at Bay Harbor in Petoskey, MI.
Watching movies in bed at night
Lake view from our suite balcony
Even though the swimming pool was heated, it was a little cool in the middle of winter!
Ella and Daddy dry off
This is in the lawn of the hotel after our swim. You can see the steam from the thermal pools (natural hot water swimming pools) in the back. On our last day we went to the thermal pools for a soak.
In early June, we took a long weekend get away to Lake Taupo which is a ~3 hour drive from New Plymouth. Lake Taupo is a huge lake in the center of the North Island in New Zealand. It's a fun little town with great shopping and great restaurants. It's also an active geothermal area. We stayed at the Hilton Lake Taupo which was a beautiful hotel (see our room above and below) - it reminded us a lot of the Inn at Bay Harbor in Petoskey, MI. 
Watching movies in bed at night
Lake view from our suite balcony
Even though the swimming pool was heated, it was a little cool in the middle of winter!
Ella and Daddy dry off
This is in the lawn of the hotel after our swim. You can see the steam from the thermal pools (natural hot water swimming pools) in the back. On our last day we went to the thermal pools for a soak. 
Huka Falls
It's hard to see the magnitude of the falls in the photo, but the blue cascading water was so impressive. It was the highlight of our trip.
New Zealand is known for it's manuka honey which contains natural antioxidants. We visited the local Huka Honey store which had all kinds of manuka honey products.
Of course Josh had to try for the hole in one off the shores of Lake Taupo. He hit the box a few times, but unfortunately didn't hit the hole!
