Day 44 - Taupo & Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand

---

Wednesday January 1st, 2014. Taupo & Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand

M woke up feeling a little fragile so opted for a lie in while D went for a walk around the town. First he went down to the lake and watched some para-gliders enjoying themselves. He then walked to the location where the Waikato River Outlet started. This was a busy location with sea planes, helicopters, coastguards, Petersen Wharf and the marina all within 200 metres of each other. There were black swans and other seabirds at the wharf. Opposite the wharf there were loads of posh pads. He then went up through the Joan Williamson Memorial Rose Gardens in the South Tongariro Domain in the heart of Taupo. The gardens are named after a former mayor of Taupo who was instrumental in their development. He then walked past the town museum (closed of course! - New Year's Day) and back through the downtown to the hostel where he woke M up.

We jumped in the car and headed south to the Tongariro National Park. This is a 7,600 sq km (2,930 sq mile park with 3 active volcanoes forming its nucleus. They are called Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro. Mount Ngaruhoe is the youngest of the 3 volcanoes and is a vent of Mt Tongarito. These volcanoes were given to the government in 1887 by a Maori Chief. The park is a popular ski area and a year round tramping and mountain climbing area. It was the first park in the world to achieve UNESCO World Heritage Status for both its natural (1990) and Maori Spiritual and Cultural (1993) value.

We were heading for Mt Ruapehu as there is a ski chairlift running there in the summer which takes you to the summit of the volcano. The volcanoes of Tongarito NP are unique because of the frequency of eruptions, the density of active vents and their highly explosive nature. Volcanic activity can occur in the park at any time and with little or no warning. Great place to be dangling from a chairlift thought M. Anyone who wants to tramp the upper slopes of the volcanoes (or dangle from a chair on a string?) needs to check the current volcanic alert status with the nearest visitor centre (they were all on a day off!).

The chairlift was located in Iwikou Village and serves the Whakapapa Ski Field in winter. It was mid summer - though you wouldn't know it. We purchased our tickets and went down to the chairlift. M was given a ski jacket by the attendant - good job as we were going up 2020 metres to a cafe at the top. We would get there by means of two separate chair lifts. One was rather antiquated and took two persons at a time. The second was a more modern, faster, four person job. M hated them both equally and kept her eyes tightly shut the whole way until she needed to open them to get off. We reached the cafe where M was debating whether to walk down and miss the return trip on the chairlift . A glass of wine, and the realisation that it would take two hours to walk down, later we both came back down on the two chairlifts.

As we drove back down from Iwikou we drove through Whakapapa Village (about 6 kms down the mountain from the lift) where there was a kite festival going on. It was perfect freezing windy weather for it too!. Also here is the Bayview Chateau Tongariro. This is a luxury hotel, built in 1929, on the lower slopes of Mt Ruapehu, with stunning mountain and valley views. We took some snaps of the kites and the chateau and continued back through the NP.

We returned to Taupo via Turangi, on the south side of the lake, on SH46 which ran to the south side of Lake Rotoara. We did this to get a closer view of the fumeroles on Mt Tangiroa. We did a quick shop at Turangi (as it had a New World, instead of a crappy Pak n Save). We stopped on the side of highway 1 to take snaps of the waves Lake Taupo - despite the largish waves there were plenty of people in the water.

We had a good meal, washed down with the usual vino. We had 3 courses again today as it is a special day. Tomorrow we head north.

---

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Traveling New Zealand
New Zealand is one of our favorite countries. You've taken some lovely photos. Thanks for sharing