Meg and I have visited the Tongariro National Park three times during our stays on North Island with our family. Obviously, it is one of our favorite places. To be in the center of three active volcanic mountains — Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariroare, the summits of which are each sacred to the Maori people — never ceases to awe and stimulate our senses. This national park was donated to the New Zealand government in 1886 by the local Ngati Tuwheretoa Maori tribe in order to protect it permanently. It is the oldest national park in New Zealand and the fourth oldest in the world.
On this visit we enjoyed absolutely still and perfectly clear skies and made a flight over the volcanoes. As always, we enjoyed seeing country from above that we had seen up close through earlier hiking on the Tongariro Crossing. And, having stayed once at the Chateau Tongariro, we loved seeing its setting beneath Mt Ruapehu.
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| Mt Ruapehu crater lake, Tongariro_National_Park |
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| Ketitahi_Springs, Tongariro_National_Park |
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| Volcanic Flights, Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro_National_Park |
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| Ngauruhoe, Tongariro_National_Park, Volcanic_Flights, Tongariro_Crossing |
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| Mt Ruapehu, Chateau_Tongariro, Tongariro_National_Park |
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| Crater lake Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro_National_Park |
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| Mt Ngauruhoe, Tongariro_National_Park |
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| Red_Crater_NZ, Tongariro_National_Park, Tongariro_Crossing |