Sadly, we have to drag ourselves away from out little paradise overlooking Lake Taupo as our journey south continues. 

Today we’re heading for Tongariro National Park, but first we stop to view the raging turquoise waters of Huka Falls where New Zealand’s longest river, the Waikato, is forced through a narrow chasm making a dramatic 11m drop into a surging crystal clear pool at the rate of 220,000 litres per second. 

From here we drive along the southern fringes of the lake and up into the mountains of the National Park, New Zealand’s oldest, and a double UNESCO World Heritage Site being awarded this status for both its volcanic landscape and its cultural significance to the Maori. 

We’ve seen the mountains from our Taupo viewpoint, and as we get closer the three still active volcanoes become more and more impressive - Mt Ruapehu, the highest, snow-capped and one of the world’s most active; Mt Tongariro, famous for its challenging Alpine Crossing Track; and Mt Ngauruhoe - the smallest and youngest and the one most typically volcanic in shape. 

The roadside is lined with bright red flax and an indigenous type of pampas grass, giving the vegetation a completely different character to other areas we have travelled through so far, so beautiful against the background of the mountains, now bathed in afternoon light. 

We check into our home for the next two night, Tongariro Crossing Lodge - a delighful collection of flower-framed cottages which is obviously geared to hikers and, in season, skiers, with facilities like drying rooms available. Of course, we’re not attempting the actual crossing - though I’d love to do so to see landscapes like the Emerald Lake.  It’s far too long and challenging for me, I’m afraid. But we are going on a ‘sunset like’ and set off to meet our guide. I think I’d imagined this would cover a small part of the crossing, but it’s actually one of the shorter walks within the park, and we join our guide with two others from the UK (about half our age) to walk to the Teranaki Falls. It’s a brisk pace, but not too challenging, the scenery is beautiful as is the evening weather. Our guide, Stewart, points out various geographical features and gives us information on the local flora (including the ubiquitous manuka bushes) - as well as rather worrying facts about the risk factors in exploring volcanic areas! 

We reach the waterfall which cascades impressively down a sheer wall of rock, then move on to The Mounds where we watch the sun setting while drinking sparkling NZ wine, the light turning the vegetation fiery red and orange. 

I’m feeling pretty tired, but it’s been a wonderful introduction to this very special area. 


My main today’s a view across the volcanic landscape towards snow-capped Ruapehu, with shots of our sunset walk in extras.