Taupo is a lot like Wanaka in some ways-- it's situated on a beautiful lake, and it's a big summer destination for New Zealand holiday-makers. When we rolled into town on the 29th, though, it was pretty empty. Summer has well and truly come to an end, alas, alack.
However, Taupo is a really nice town regardless! We stayed at Blackcurrent Backpackers, and because it's the off-season, we had a huge room and an ensuite bathroom to ourselves. So that was pretty excellent. On the ferry to Wellington, I had read in a pamphlet that Taupo had “the world's coolest McDonalds”, so, like the good Americans we are, we dropped off our bags and all trooped down the main street to what might actually be the world's coolest McDonalds. It is a McCafe, AND it has a super sweet airplane (originally used for an inter-NZ airline company that went bust) that you can sit in to eat. It is apparently the haunt of all the coolest teenagers in the land, so we quickly figured out that we weren't welcome, haha. (The looks we got!)
After enjoying our delicious McyDs, we wandered town for a bit to see what was what. The lake was really gorgeous-- and huge, with picturesque mountains framing it. The town has a lot of street art, and the lakefront had some vandalism ...art, turning the word 'danger' into 'anger' for some signs on the shoreline.