Recent stories
We are pleased to bring you the latest from around the Taupō & Tūrangi communities. Reporting local, supporting local.
If you have news to share contact news@tauponews.co.nz
Roles clarified in maritime rescues
The Lake Taupō harbourmaster has clarified its role in rescues with Fire and Emergency after FENZ struggled to get hold of them when a boy was rescued just before Christmas.
What is your love language?
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about love – the real, everyday kind that keeps us warm through our chilly winters and makes those long summer lake days even better. You know how sometimes you pour your heart into something for your partner... only to feel like it didn’t quite land? Or they do something sweet, and you’re left wondering why it doesn’t hit the spot the way you’d hoped?
Taupō’s funniest pets
We went on the hunt for the cutest, weirdest, funniest pets in Taupō and had 120 photos in two days. Impossible to narrow them down but here’s a selection.
Free upgrades for Tūrangi houses
Maru Energy Trust has appointed whānau advocate Monica Duff as its ‘community champion’ for Tūrangi.
An ‘extraordinary’ woman
The recent passing of Helen Rabinska is a profound loss for Taupō.
A cure for the ‘loneliness crisis’
Singles aged 35 and over will gather at Cobb and Co on Valentine's Day for the latest installment of Taupō's Mix and Mingle.
Wartime widow’s second chance at life in NZ
Robbie Shearer celebrates 100 years with tales of wartime loss, love and even a childhood friendship with Sir David Attenborough.
Parents Centre needs a boost
The Taupō Parents Centre is struggling to remain open despite helping hundreds of new parents each year.
Good sort keeps it green
Rachel Thompson, environmental educator for Kids Greening Taupō, is this month’s Harcourts Taupō Good Sort for her work in preventing invasive gold clams from entering Lake Taupō.
Planting seeds of knowledge
Taupō is producing a generation of young people with a huge understanding of the ecology they live in, and ground-breaking education is starting to be picked up in other regions.
The RSA for everyone
‘Have you served and how can we help you?’ That’s the simple motto that has served Mangakino RSA well for 80 years.
Taking confidence to a new level
Tūrangi teen Amy Smith has completed two Blue Light programmes, and her coinfidence is sky-high.
Answering the call
Taupō’s Anneke Jacoba Dinnington has been honoured with a King’s Service Medal in the New Year Honours List 2026.
The cost of getting elected
Mayoral winner John Funnell and runner-up Zane Cozens were the big spenders in last year’s local body election race.
Kids on the frontline of clam fight
There’s an environmental disaster looming and people are being encouraged to grab their phones and start filming.
Christmas spirit alive and well
Dozens of children in Tūrangi got a Christmas present his year thanks to the last-minute generosity of the Rotary Club on Tūrangi and The Warehouse Taupō.
Sailing into 2026
From the editor Dan Hutchinson: Survive ‘till ‘25’ was the call this time last year and that was always going to be too many punctuation marks.
Market returns to Northcroft Reserve
Kaz Cederwall, owner operator of Market Central says the local market and its summer evening add-on – Dinner at the Lake – is going from strength to strength.
It’s glow time
The town fireworks fizzled at Guy Fawkes’ leaving a community group holding a huge cache of glowing rings, bracelets, wands and ‘Thunder Sticks’. Taupō Community Patrol uses glow-stick sales as its main fundraiser each year, so now it’s setting sights on New Year fireworks celebrations, with a stall on Titiraupenga Street, not far from the prime lakefront viewing areas.
Change of guard for VGLT
The JB behind VGLT is stepping sideways.
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