View from Taupo waterfront looking South over Lake Taupo. Tops of the Central North Island volcanoes Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu are shrouded by cloud in the center of the picture. The Southern end of the lake is approximately 25 miles (46ks) distant. Its width is approx 18 miles (33ks). It is 370 meters above sea level, has an average depth of 110 metres and covers an area of approximately 160 square kilometers. Geologists believe the lake is the crater of a volcano that "blew its top" about 26,000 years ago. This fact is supported by the abundance of pumice that litters the shores of the lake.