An introduction to our beautiful, peaceful holiday village:
Hatepe Village was founded about 75 years ago, by Robert and Bella Morehu, whose family land it was for many hundreds of years, and still is. Robert and Bella farmed this land from the 1930s and raised 13 children here.
The village began in the 1930s with a few anglers and their families camping on the foreshore over the summer holidays, allowed access year-round through a locked roadside gate. So, maybe this was the first gated community in the country! Folk came a long way for the wonderful trout fishing in the Hinemaiaia River and Lake Taupo. In the 1940s the Hinemaiaia River was dammed in the upper reaches for the district power scheme, then the lake filled and rose to cover the ledge of foreshore land used for the camping ground.
Regular campers asked to be able to build little baches, and bring in surplus WWII army huts from Waiouru, to store their gear between visits. And so it grew with huts becoming cottages, and more holidaymakers over the decades wanting permanent holiday homes. Robert and Bella paced out each section, carefully to the lie of the land for sunlight, privacy and access. The planning is used to this day to demonstrate how untutored owners sensitive to the environment got it right. Gradually the roads were formed, sections were taken to the land boundaries east, north and south, and the village grew over three generations to become as you see it today: 100 cottages on Maori lease land. The Morehu connection with the Residents is still here; four of the Morehu siblings live in the village, and grandchildren are raising their families in the Papakainga alongside the village.
The land lease was formalised in the 1970s after the Taupo District Council surveyed the sections. The surveys of the older established parts of the village are not exactly in line with the traditional boundaries. To keep the ambiance and tradition of the village, residents on the whole respect the original boundaries and the older cottages, to the extent that if the old folk, landowners and residents, could come back now and walk around the village, they would still recognise it. The interior of many cottages have been upgraded beautifully to modern standards, with the outside appearance preserved.
Why would anyone want a holiday cottage in Hatepe? Well ... depends what you do for leisure/fun. If it is reading by the fireside, or in the sun, or swimming, kayaking, canoeing, boating, trout fishing by night or day, from the boat or on the river with dry-fly, wet-fly or nymphing, biking along the riverbank, up to the dam or The Biggie - biking up the Hatepe Hill (not recommended for the faint-hearted), bush walks, picking blackberries, ski-ing on water or snow (the snowfields are an hour's drive south) or doing pretty well anything or nothing at all, this is the place to be. If you like the hunting/fishing/shooting life, we have that. Oh, did I mention the tennis court? in the high season you have to book your hour's play well in advance, and everyone is a champion in our Tennis Tournament held over three days early January.
If you want peace and quiet, we have that. If you want company you will find it. On a fine calm summer evening impromptu gatherings just happen, with a glass of wine on the beach to watch the sun go down . On a cold winter's day, the gatherings are around a fireside and the welcome is just as warm. For a day in town, Taupo offers a multi movie theatre, decent coffee shops and restaurants, with plenty of gift and clothing shops to browse, and the big supermarket and takeaway franchises. Something for everyone.
SECURITY Good question. Our Residents have to leave their cottages locked up sometimes for months on end - how safe are they? Very. Many cottages have their own burglar alarms, either audible or answered by a security firm in Turangi. On hearing an alarm going it is investigated, the Resident is phoned to tell them and we check the house if needed, but we find alarms are triggered by mice rather than burglars. We have only one entrance to the village, and we have a security camera monitoring comings and goings. That has had a positive effect. We havent heard of a burglary for years. I cant say there wont be any, normal caution is needed, but its not an issue round here.
SAFETY For children this is a really safe environment. Parents and children can walk to the lake and river without having to run across a very busy highway, and the youngsters mix and mingle within the village, running free, doing what kids do.