Sort:  

Kakahi, which use to be a large milling town. Now there is Manu Lalas general store, which has lots of photos of what used to be around him. The local school has closed down, but with the Whakapapa and Whanganui rivers meet up - both fresh and good for fishing or if your brave in summer just warm enough to swim.. We are 500ish meters above sea level in the foothills of Mt Ruapehu.. Hopefully tourism will be the new lifeblood.. Houses are selling for more and faster, but NZs current housing crisis could factor in, so not sure if its spreading out further or if it is tourism. Anyone like trout fishing!
Will start to blog but having camera problems. Thinking of investing in a good phone with a great camera.. Any advice?

I haven't heard about either but I have been to Lake Taupo which is pretty close by (just looked it up on maps ;)).
I might get a new phone as well. Thought of huawei as the camera (leica) is pretty good. Check out Huawei p10. The camera is high professional.