Wairakei Golf Course

Wairakei International Golf Course is located in the heart of the North Island in the Lake Taupo region. It was designed by Commander John Harris, Michael Wolveridge and Peter Thomson, and is a parkland style of layout routed through 450 acres of rolling land. From the tips the course plays to 6444 metres, is well bunkered, has some tight tree lined fairways, plays very long, is straightforward, but requires accuracy to score well. They have a hole, the 14th which was named after the geyser nearby which used to erupt quite a bit we understood, but no longer. The course is rated as one of the better courses in New Zealand, and if you're in the Taupo region, it's a the top golf course and a must play. We spent the rest of the time touring the area. Lake Taupo is the site of the world's largest eruption in the last 5,000 years. The results are everywhere with active volcanoes, steaming cliffs, geysers, boiling lakes, bubbling mudpools and floating rocks, quite an experience at the end of the earth. Make certain you also visit Karapiti (Craters of the Moon), Orakei Korako Thermal Park or any one of the significant geothermal sites in the region.