Lakes Rotoaira and Rotopounamu: Between the Volcanoes and Taupō

ALSO well worth a visit are Lakes Rotoaira and Rotopounamu,two beautiful lakes which lie halfway between the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park and Lake Taupō.

Both lakes are bordered by native bush and closely overlooked by the bald-topped Mount Pihanga, visible at centre-right in the aerial photograph below.

Lake Rotoaira was raised in the 1970s for the purposes of the Tongariro Power Scheme. It is privately owned and you need a permit to go boating or fishing.

But the smaller of the two lakes, Lake Rotopounamu, is quite unmodified, public, and totally surrounded by bush. A walking track off StateHighway 47 goes all the way around Lake Rotopounamu.

The area is quite historic as it was the site of the last set-piece battle to be fought in New Zealand, thus far. To the west of Lake Rotoaira are the upper and lower Te Pōrere Redoubts, built by the insurgent leader Te Kooti. These were captured in October 1869 by government forces under Lt-Colonel Thomas McDonnell. Just east of Lake Rotoaira is McDonnell's Redoubt, another of Te Kooti's fortifications but subsequently occupied by McDonnell and turned into a government fort for a while.

The Te Pōrere Redoubts are close to the Outdoor Pursuits Centre on Access Road No. 3 and you get to them by hiking a short way eastward from Access Road No. 3 up the Te Araroa Trail, which passes through those parts. There are some other things to do nearby in the form of the Pumice Caves, the Mangatepopo Stream and the Taurewa Loop Track, as well as more explorations on the Te Araroa Trail.

McDonnell's Redoubt, at the eastern end of the lake, is at the end of a short road called McDonnell's Redoubt Road.

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Notes

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