What a fascinating place! The weather is also glorious, bright blue skies and is pleasantly warm. The deep blue sky really sets the three mountains off. The ski fields (only the really keen and experienced are skiing as it is the end of the season) are only 6 kms away. We are staying in a holiday park ($38 per night) which is set amongst the trees, and each site is surrounded by bush. When we look out of the back of our van we have a view of a stream with Mt Ruapehu above it. Magical!
We are in Tongariro National Park, which was established in 1887, and is a Heritage Park. It covers the three mountains of the area, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. Tongariro means tonga (wind) and riro (carried away). The three peaks are a gift to NZ from the local iwi (tribe) who saw the act as the only way to preserve an area of spiritual significance.
The area is now famous as the setting for Lord of the Rings, which adds to the mysticism of the place, even though the movie was fiction. “Plains of Gorgoroth” was filmed below Mt Tongariro and “Mt Doom” is actually Mt Ngauruhoe (see picture below).
We are of course in an area where there are active volcanoes. Mt Ruapehu is the highest and most active, having erupted on a number of occasions in the past forty years, the latest one being in 2007. Mt Tongariro last erupted in 1926 and the youngest volcano, Mt Ngauruhoe (below) looks like a stereotypical volcano (I am not sure if it has erupted recently). 
Of course worse events (other than eruptions) have occurred in the past due to the crater lake on the top of Mt Ruapehu getting blocked. The dam of rock which holds the water in suddenly breaks and the volcanic mud and water (known as a lahar) suddenly sweeps down the side of the mountain. In 1953 a lahar took away a bridge and an express train went straight into the river, killing 153 people. Apparently there are now alarm systems on the crater lake’s edge. I hope they work!
We went on a beautiful loop walk today to see the Taranaki Falls. The two hour walk took us through tussock and alpine shrublands as well as beech forest. We could see Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu above the immediate scenery as we walked along the track. It was all very impressive.
We are of course in an area where there are active volcanoes. Mt Ruapehu is the highest and most active, having erupted on a number of occasions in the past forty years, the latest one being in 2007. Mt Tongariro last erupted in 1926 and the youngest volcano, Mt Ngauruhoe (below) looks like a stereotypical volcano (I am not sure if it has erupted recently). Of course worse events (other than eruptions) have occurred in the past due to the crater lake on the top of Mt Ruapehu getting blocked. The dam of rock which holds the water in suddenly breaks and the volcanic mud and water (known as a lahar) suddenly sweeps down the side of the mountain. In 1953 a lahar took away a bridge and an express train went straight into the river, killing 153 people. Apparently there are now alarm systems on the crater lake’s edge. I hope they work!We went on a beautiful loop walk today to see the Taranaki Falls. The two hour walk took us through tussock and alpine shrublands as well as beech forest. We could see Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu above the immediate scenery as we walked along the track. It was all very impressive.
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