Tongariro - New Zealand
8/26/05
We picked up the rental car in the morning and headed up north. Since there was a traffic jam on the highway due to an accident, we took smaller roads through Upper Hut, the northern part of Wellington. It is located at the top of a hill from where we enjoyed a nice view of the city.
Once out of the city we drove through a hilly landscape up to Whakapapa in the Tongariro National Park, New Zealand's first national park, in the middle of the northern island.
It is impossible to miss it; in the middle of a huge plane three impressive mountains stand out.
The Mount Ruapehu (2797m) where people ski...
Mount Ngauruhoe 2287m and Mount Tongariro 1968m...
We would have liked to hike the Tongariro crossing, which is supposedly the most wonderful day-hike in NZ. But the weather wasn't at its best, and the mount was covered with ice. The only way to cross it would have been to hire a guide an ice-climbing gear. So we just went for two simple walks, which were also very beautiful too.
The first one was along the ridge of the volcano and the second one along Silica Rapids which change colors due to the high concentration of mineral in the water left from several eruptions. That walk took us through very different landscapes in a short time. With the sunset the color were amazing.
At night we slept in the car with many other cars and campervans around of people doing the same thing.
We picked up the rental car in the morning and headed up north. Since there was a traffic jam on the highway due to an accident, we took smaller roads through Upper Hut, the northern part of Wellington. It is located at the top of a hill from where we enjoyed a nice view of the city.
Once out of the city we drove through a hilly landscape up to Whakapapa in the Tongariro National Park, New Zealand's first national park, in the middle of the northern island.
It is impossible to miss it; in the middle of a huge plane three impressive mountains stand out.
The Mount Ruapehu (2797m) where people ski...
Mount Ngauruhoe 2287m and Mount Tongariro 1968m...
We would have liked to hike the Tongariro crossing, which is supposedly the most wonderful day-hike in NZ. But the weather wasn't at its best, and the mount was covered with ice. The only way to cross it would have been to hire a guide an ice-climbing gear. So we just went for two simple walks, which were also very beautiful too.
The first one was along the ridge of the volcano and the second one along Silica Rapids which change colors due to the high concentration of mineral in the water left from several eruptions. That walk took us through very different landscapes in a short time. With the sunset the color were amazing.
At night we slept in the car with many other cars and campervans around of people doing the same thing.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 5:37 PM
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