Hallett's Bay is a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 on the eastern shore of Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It was known as Hameria, named after Samaria

Samaria

Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...

 during missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 times, and before that Paka. The early Maori explorer Tia

Tia (Maori explorer)

Tia was an early Maori explorer and chief. He is responsible for the names of various features and settlements around the central North Island. Horohoro is named after an incident when he touched the dead body of an important chief and was cleansed by a priest in a ceremony known as Te...

 built a tūāhu (ceremonial altar) to signify he occupied the land and named the cliffs Taupō-nui-a-Tia (the great cloak of Tia). This name was later given to the lake by the occupying tribes that followed.