A three-day, sunny holiday weekend saw lots of visitors from far and wide, and me, at the Rotorua lakes. The Blue Lake, which to me always seems exactly the same colour as the nearby Green Lake, is the first to come into stunning view on the Lake Tarawera Road.

On this day the open space to the right of the highway was being used for a club event. The boat ramp area is visible in the centre-left of the picture.

The beach area is just around the corner to the left. With high bush- and plantation-covered hills to the right and left, the area from which this picture was taken offers unforgetable views, whether populated or not.

On the health of the lakes: While nearby Lake Rotorua is polluted well beyond swimming safety, all the lakes in the Rotorua Lakes area shown on this site are great for swimming, boating, fishing, sailing or just sitting and gazing at.

The great virtue of these lakes is that they are all surrounded by sharply rising, virtually unfarmable and inhospitable - for housing development - hills.

These natural defences have, in the meantime, kept human endeavour pollution at bay. But don't take too long getting here. Already the Green Lake is suspect. The consumer society and international interest are definitely on the way!