NZ 09 (North Island): Tongariro National Park

From Auckland, we travelled southwards to National Park, about 322km away. It is located on the fringe of Tongariro National park. En route, we stopped at a small town, Otorohanga for a short walk-about before proceeding to Waitomo Caves, about 16km from Otorohanga.

While there are many activities such as abseiling, rock climbing, rafting, cave tubing etc. which one can participate and there are also caves which are well known for its ‘colourful’ stalactites such as Aranui and Ruakuri Caves, we decided just to visit the Glowworm Cave. We first went through the usual assortment of (without the colourful artificial lighting) stalactites and stalagmites before taking a boat ride along the river. Surrounded by complete darkness, we were soon ‘blinded’ by the Milky Way of little lights – the glowworms – the pride of the cave.

The weather for the day was good. We were travelling along state highways 1, 39, 3 and 4. Initially certain stretches of the roads were slightly winding, while the later part was generally flat and straight.

Tongariro National Park is a World Heritage Site. Three great volcanic peaks dominate the park – Mt Tongariro (1,967m), Mt Ruapehu (2,797m) and Mt Ngauruhoe(2,287m).

Ruapehu, the highest point in the North Island, is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the largest active volcano in New Zealand. It is also the site of the country’s largest ski area. The summit erupted in 1966, blasting a massive amount of volcanic ash and steam into the air.

Ngauruhoe, unlike Ruapehu and Tongariro, is a conical, single-vent volcano.

We arrived at our lodge in the late evening. The motel was located literally in the middle of nowhere. For a few kilometers, we could see no other motels except ours. After checking in, we took a drive along state highway 47 heading towards Whakapapa Village (in Tongariro National Park). On the way, we saw the beautiful snow-capped mountains of Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe. We took the opportunity to take some photos of these famous mountains. Fortunately we did that as the following day, the weather took a drastic turn and that these mountains were heavily shrouded in the mist.