Lake Taupo – A Scenic Spot so Hot, it’s Steaming!

Adrenalin junkies swarm to Taupo and the lake for sky-diving, jet-boating and waterskiing. Motorsport fans congregate in droves for the annual A1GP and fishermen love the challenge of the trout, but the region’s abundant natural beauty is its own attraction.

david ellis

ALTHOUGH he died eleven years ago, the name James A. Michener is still as synonymous with the South Pacific today as it was when he put pen to paper 60-odd years ago and chronicled the lives of Bloody Mary, Nellie Forbush, Emile de Becque, Atabrin Benny and a host of other wartime misfits.

Yet few know that this remarkable author of more than 40 books that sold over 75 million copies, had to use a nom de plume in 1947 to have his original classic, Tales of the South Pacific accepted.

Nor that the same publisher rejected his second manuscript, citing a "lack of any literary potential."

CANOE THAT SANK A SANDRINGHAM

AIRLINES have lost planes to many different causes, foul weather, terrorists, and just plain bad luck amongst them.

But Qantas lost a huge-for-its-day Sandringham double-deck flying boat in the-then New Hebrides’ Port Vila Harbour to a more bizarre cause: it was a dug-out canoe.

NOUMEA’S SINGING NUNS KICK THE HABIT

david ellis

THERE’s a group of nuns in New Caledonia know how to bring a tear to the eye.

And it’s not because they employ tales of hard-luck to wring donations for the needy, nor how they preach to the faithful and otherwise.

It’s the way they sing. In particular a goose-bumpy version of Ave Maria that so powerful is its effect on visitors, that many rise to their feet rather than fall to their knees, at the harmony of the young singers.