If you’re going to do the whole luxury accommodation lake taupo experience you might as well go the whole nine yards and arrive there in style. This is what I did last time when I took my wife to the lake for her birthday. We stepped off the plane at the airport and she was expecting to walk over and get a rental vehicle, but instead we walked over to the awaiting helicopter and climbed aboard. We went for a quick scenic flight over the lake before touching down on the lawn of the lodge I had booked for us. I’m pretty sure she won’t forget that birthday in a hurry.