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Blogs from Whakapapa, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania
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Ohakune - Skiing at Mount Ruapehu
Published: August 2nd 2012Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whakapapa
July 26th 2012
We arrived in Ohakune that evening- it was a friday- just in time for the beginning of Mardi Gras to mark the beginning of ski season. Since we couldn't get tickets to the Ireland-All Blacks game in Hamilton, we decided to go skiing instead (turns out it was the better choice!). That evening we just relaxed at the campsite and saved our energy for the following day. We headed up to Mount Ruapehu the next morning for a half day of skiing. Mount Ruapehu is a huge volcano. We parked the car and headed in to get our gear. We got ski boots, poles and skis. We headed out to the slopes- only the beginner slope was open because of the stong winds. Dave had been skiing before, but I hadn't, so it took me a ... read more
January 11th 2012
Hi,folks. Just a brief one tonight with lots of photos to follow. Did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing today: 19.4 km (12+ miles),up from 1100m to 1900m and down to 700m! Took almost 8 hours. Fabulous weather,fabulous views - Lord of the Rings country. Cream-crackered at the end but worth every minute! Went round with a very knowledgeable (and pretty) Kiwi guide,Catherine and a couple of Germans,a Yank and a couple of Spanish ladies who dropped out - they were older than us!! Will attach a couple of photos to this entty and more tomorrow.... read more
January 11th 2012
More pics from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing! Best pics to follow. In Auckland now but that's another blog!... read more
August 23rd 2010
Five of us (Me, Eric, Anke, Lieke 1 + Lieke 2) spent the weekend skiing at Whakapapa (the ‘wh’ is pronounced as an ‘f’) which is in the middle of the North Island on Mt Ruapeha. I drove an automatic for the first time (majority of cars are automatics because it's so hilly) and we arrived pretty late on Friday night. So up early on the Saturday to rent all the gear and get up the mountain. Eric and the Liekes had all skied before but Anke and I were keen on snowboarding so we booked a lesson. But before we had an hour to kill so went up the mountain with the others.........Lieke 2 had snowboarded before as well so was ‘supposed’ to give us some help. After spending long enough just getting my boots ... read more
First Few Days of The North Island
Published: September 2nd 2009Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whakapapa
September 1st 2009
Since I first recieved a warm kiwi welcome from complete strangers in Auckland, it's been a blurr. The first few days consisted of wondering around Auckland jet-lagged, a little confused and completely lost. Things started to pick up when I headed for Hamilton to pay Jacob a visit. After a night on the town with some of his fellow med student flat mates, we headed to Mt. Manganui on the east coast to catch a few waves. I managed to find a decent bodyboard in Jacob's buddy's garage. 12C and blowin stink. I paddled out into a lineup of mostly kayakers - who were getting handled by the head high surf. We scarfed down some oranges and meat pies roadside, warmed up and had another go at the ice cream headache causing swell literally coming from ... read more
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July 16th 2009
Ok firstly before you ready this, look at where I am, Whakapapa, ok a Maui word, right... Maui's pronounce Wh as Fu... Nearly didn't make it to the airport! Will say nothing more than it involved a night out with some people from the hostel, and me turning off my alarm when drunk and a 6.55am bus to the airport. Once at the airport I was a proper hobo sleeping on my bag, most likely snoring and dribbling. Flight was fine got to Auckland and was met by friends of Siov's. I stayed with them for a night, they had a really lovely house near the centre of Auckland and got an amazing nights sleep, sat up all evening by a fire outside eating real food and it was cold but nice to be layered up ... read more
Mt Ruhapehu et la traversee du parc Tongariro
Published: January 24th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whakapapa
January 22nd 2009
22 janvier, Petite journee de randonnee pour Diane pendant que Cornelia et Janine sont parties faire la traversee de Tongariro. J'ai tente d'atteindre le sommet du Mt Ruhapehu ...en chairlift. Ce dernier se rend a 2 000m, il faut par la suite gravir les 797m a pied dans la pierre de volcan. Mais...je n'avais pas emporte mes batons de randonnee alors je ne pu franchir les derniers 200m a cause de la neige durcie. Il fallait vraiment des batons. Janine et Cornelia ont fait 19.4 km en traversant le parc national Tongariro. Journee parfaite, ciel bleu, soleil intense. Le Mt Tongariro nous a accueillit le matin avec un manteau de nuage, comme pour nous obliger de decouvrir lentement sa beaute. Le paysage le plus bizarre qu'on a jamais vu: vallee volcanique avec "terrain d'aterrissage", grandes places ... read more
Lord Sauron has many spies...many spies with many eyes.
Published: January 16th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whakapapa
January 9th 2009
We camped for two nights in the Tongariro National Park - halfway between Auckland and Wellington. We had planned to attempt the 'Tongariro Crossing' which is one of NZ's great day walks across the still active volcanic region, but having been on the road for more than two weeks and feeling the effects of the heatwave we didn't fancy getting up at 5am to start the walk, nor spending the whole day exposed to sun! Instead we drove from our camp-site in Whakapapa, where we'd pitched our tent with great views of the two major volcanos, first to Whakapapa Village where the Lord of the Rings cast and crew had spent quite some time during the filming of the 'Mordor' scenes. They had stayed at 'Chateau Tongariro', a famous hotel set at the foot of Mount ... read more
Jour 42 - Mount Ruapehu, Wanganui & Kapiti Coast
Published: January 4th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whakapapa
December 27th 2008
On a quitté tôt ce matin la ville de Taupo, pour se rendre au Mont Ruapehu, un volcan actif qui se situe environ 1 heure au sud de Taupo. La dernière fois que le volcan est entré en éruption est en 1995. Cette dernière éruption a mis fin à la saison de ski dans la région pour l’année 1995 et 1996, puisque c’est en effet la seule montagne de ski sur l’île du Nord. On a arrêté au village de Whakapapa où il y avait des expositions très intéressantes au sujet du volcan. Ensuite, on est monté plus haut à la station de ski, afin de prendre le télésiège (qui est ouvert l’été) pour monter plus haut dans la montagne. C’est très bizarre comme panorama. Il n’y a véritablement aucune végétation sauf quelques herbes. C’est très ... read more
July 30th 2008
*Quick note: No one was responding to my blog entries, so Jack bet me that he could write absolutely anything and get more comments on it than mine. It worked. Garth Brooks lyrics was all it took. Good job, Jack. We traveled down from Taupo, spent the night in our van in Turangi, then at precisely 7:08am Jack came running back to the van shouting "Lindsay! GET UP. We have to go NOW." He found out that the ski fields were open. We made it down to check in at our lodge, rented some gear, and went straight up to the Whakapapa Ski Field. We were on the slopes all day, stopping only once for a quick lunch and a 500 person snowball fight. The view was incredible all morning, and the whole afternoon was skiing ... read more
