Plan change

The sun is blazing from the sky, Carsten has finished breakfast, and I have received a WhatsApp message from the children. Time to get up. The national park calls for hiking.

💡In the center of the park there are three active volcanic mountains: Tongariro (1968 m), Ngauruhoe (2291 m), and Ruapehu (2797 m). In 1887, the Māoris gifted the 3 volcanoes, which are sacred to them, to the English crown, with the condition of establishing a protection zone there. They prevented the settlers from exploiting the "mountains." Since 1993, the park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We start in sunny weather, but the weather is expected to change quickly here. We actually wanted to walk a bit of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing Track, but the tourist information advised against it as we are too late and they expect heavy rain.

So we take on the alternative program. First stop: the Turoa ski area.

From the parking lot, we walk over lava rock to the first ski hut.

Past lifts and snowfields.

In winter, it's definitely crowded here,

but now it's a dance of the dead. A ghost mountain.

The slowly starting drizzle makes us turn back.

But a little rain doesn't scare us away. We continue to the Waitonga Falls.

A 4 km walk, a mountain and valley walk.

Wow, that was exhausting, we felt like we were only walking uphill.

The waterfall made up for the effort.

We rewarded ourselves with a 🍺 and a delicious 🍔, because we haven't found salad and water on any menu yet.