What do Alaska and New Zealand have in common? Beautiful snow-covered volcanoes! The volcano above is Mount Ngauruhoe. That's pretty hard to pronounce, so I just call it Mount Doom, from LOTR.
Mount Ruapehu is the snow-covered volcano below that looks more like a ridge. While not nearly as beautiful and classically shaped as Mt Ngauruhoe, it is nevertheless the most active volcano in NZ and one of the most active in the world--it could erupt at any time (no kidding)! While hiking along its flank on the Tongariro Crossing I saw constant steam coming out of the side. There were eruptions in '95, '96, and '06, and it's not nearly done.
Mount Ruapehu is the snow-covered volcano below that looks more like a ridge. While not nearly as beautiful and classically shaped as Mt Ngauruhoe, it is nevertheless the most active volcano in NZ and one of the most active in the world--it could erupt at any time (no kidding)! While hiking along its flank on the Tongariro Crossing I saw constant steam coming out of the side. There were eruptions in '95, '96, and '06, and it's not nearly done.
Tongariro is the huge national park surrounding Mount Tongariro, Mount Ruapehu, and Mount Ngauruhoe. It's the oldest national park in NZ, one of the oldest in the world, and a dual World Heritage area. I love hiking here because on top of the amazing views of the volcanoes and surrounding forests and farmlands, you are walking through this unique landscape of pahoehoe and giant volcanic boulders covered with alpine vegetation. It gets cold here--check out the icicles on the waterfall below.
Can you see me at the top of the ridge?
Free, natural hot springs in a secret location! Guess you'll have to sign up for a Campbell North Island Tour in order to soak in one of these tubs. They are ridiculously hot though...almost unbearable for me. Afterwards we climbed down the cliff and jumped in the river. I won't be doing that again. |
It's time for me to play catch-up with these blog posts. I promise the next one won't be a month in the making like this one. NEXT UP-- CAVING IN NEW ZEALAND-- you won't want to miss it!