Park. The Mountains I wanted to climb were all covered with
snow. At least so I thought.
Fortunately I was wrong. The top of Ruapehu was snow covered
but the rest of the park was fine. The first part of the hike
is a very popular one-day walk called the Tongariro Crossing.
Next to Tongariro is Ngurahoe. Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings.
Even in real life, scary creatures guard the mountain.
Ruapehu, Ngurahoe (Roo & Goo for short) and Tongariro are all
volcanoes. The walk up to the rim of Tongariro's red crater
showed off all the different kinds of volcanic rock.
Coming down the other side were the Emerald Lakes and some
steamy (and smelly) vents. It smelled a bit like rotten eggs.
After all the craters there were great views of Lake Taupo on
the way down to the Hut.
Tongariro is sacred to the Maori which was why they made a gift
of the land to the people of New Zealand on the condition that
it be preserved. Particularly important to the Maori are the
Hot Springs near the hut.
..which happen to look pretty cool during a sunset
The next day had some more cool volcanic formations. Hikers
say that this section is particularly fun in the fog.
Once down from the craters things got pretty dry pretty fast.
Omigod. I forgot what trees looked like.
Gotta love those Maori names.
..especially when you learn that WH is pronounced like PH.
The Chateau TOngariro is a little outside my budget, this was
once a home for wounded war veterans.
