Day 3

*We headed south to Tongariro National Park, NZ’s first national park and a World Heritage Site. The drive was a cloudy with drizzle, but soon the clouds broke, the sun came out and we saw the mountain range in the distance. The park is home to three volcanoes; Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. Upon our arrival we sought out the information centre in Whakapapa village and asked for recommendations for hiking (termed “tramping” in NZ). We had wanted to hike the acclaimed Tongariro Crossing, but the information attendant quickly informed us that we would need crampons and ice axes – that quickly got taken off the list. We opted for the Taranaki Falls & Tama Lake tramps. From the trail we had beautiful views of Mt. Ruapehu; we ventured into a beech forest and then along the Wairere stream leading to Taranki Falls. Being adventure seekers, after the falls loop, we opted to continue onto Lower Tama Lake. The tramp to the lake was well worth our journey, as when we arrived we stood in awe of the lake’s vibrant turquoise waters. We sat at the rim of the crater which boarders the lake and ate our lunch in amazement of the diverse NZ landscape. When we turned back for our return trek, the wind picked up but the sun soon greeted us. After a few minutes of tramping, we turned around to see how farm we had come from lunch … both of us stood and stared at the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe that had appeared from behind the clouds. The conversation went something like this:
Jess: “Did you know that was there?”
Margaret: “No.”
Jess: “How did we miss that? That thing is like a million feet tall!”
Margaret: “I swear that wasn’t there when we were hiking up. Here I am taking all these pictures of Ruapehu … that looks puney next to that one!”
The remainder of the trip we spent turning around to see the peak of the volcano disappear and reappear within the clouds that surrounded it. On our return, the village was bustling with skiers and the road up to Mt. Ruapehu was only accessible by shuttle. Feeling overrun with tourists we headed north towards Taupo.

*Lake Taupo is NZ’s largest lake and was formed by a volcanic explosion some 25,000 years ago. Today the lake serves as the trout-fishing capital of the world, stocked with rainbow trout introduced from California. The drive around Lake Taupo was quite serene, with views of the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park bordering the lake to the south. Being inept fisherwomen we didn’t partake in the trout fishing, but did find a cozy backpackers, an exceptional Thai restaurant, and a tasty bottle of Gewurztraminer.