Thursday 1 October

For the second night running it had poured with rain all night but it stopped before we left the camp site.

We drove up towards the ski fields on Ruapehu. At the beginning of the road the vegetation was almost tropical, then it became cold rain forest, then less vegetation and the tree leaves were small. The heather was growing like large bushes up to 6' tall. Finally no trees and then no vegetation. We were in the cloud and there was snow beside the road. There were a lot of people skiing, it was very cold and was snowing. We felt very under dressed. We had been asked to park very close to the edge of the drop!

On the way back down we stopped at Mangawhero Falls which had a long drop.

We stopped at the Tourist Information Centre back in Ohakune to find out how high we had been - it was 1600 m.

We then joined the road 4 and stopped for elevenses at the Last Spike layby. While we were there a pick up truck pased us on the track on a bogey.

We continued along this road and at a hairpin bend saw the Makatote Railway Viaduct over the Makatote River. We will travel on this line on our train journey.

We then joined the 47 road and all three mountains, Mounts Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, were in sight and mainly out of the cloud. We drove up to the car park at the Whakapapa Ski Field. This top area is quite different to the earlier one as this one was covered in lava rock from when the mountain erupted in 2006.

We passed a wittily modified road sign!

At Turangi we headed to the west side of Lake Taupo to the scenic view point. We stopped for 3.30's beside the lake, with its black swans, and from where we could see steaming mountains.

We then travelled to Taupo and the camp site.

Once the sun came out in the late morning it was a glorious day.

Wednesday 30 September

We went to Te Puia which is a Maori heritage centre. First we saw a Maori show where they explained some of the songs and dances of their culture. This was in a Meeting House. Originally they were small but when building materials improved larger ones were built. The ornate hut beside the large Meetintg house is a food store.

We went to the carving school where we saw a long canoe, and also visited the weaving school where we saw Maori skirts made of flax.

We then went on a guided tour to the mud pools and geysers. Our guide told us why they believe the heat was in this area. The original Maoris came in long canoes from a tiny island somewhere in the Pacific. When they landed on White Island in the Bay of Plenty they spread out and the Te Arawa Waka tribe headed into the centre of the North Island. They reached the mountains in Tongariro they were in the snow and very cold. They called on fire gods to help them get warm. These gods came underground to White Island where they surfaced but couldn't find the Maoris so continued underground again. Everywhere the gods surfaced they left fire which is the Pathway of Fire resulting in volcanoes and geysers.

The mud pools were bubbling and Pohutu geyser was erupting. There was a strong smell of sulphur and the rocks were white with silica.

We then set off for the next campsite. On the road we passed an ornate horse box.

We stopped beside Lake Taupo for a drink. This is the largest lake in NZ. The rain clouds kept coming so we couldn't see very much of it.

We then headed into the Tongariro National Park. Unfortunately the low cloud meant we couldn't see two of the highest mountains. We headed up and then crossed open moorland before descending. As we turned towards Ohakune we caught a glimpse of Mount Ruapehu, the highest mountain, and before we could take a photo the cloud started to roll down the side of it. Further along the road the cloud cleared and we could see the summit.

Tuesday 29 September

It was a gloriously sunny morning without a cloud in the sky.

We travelled to Rotorua and went straight to the campsite at Blue Lake to book in. We heard a most unusual bird song and then saw the bird it was a tui parson bird. We were surprised to find a lot of the birds were the same as at home, there were masses of sparrows. blackbirds, chaffinches and goldfinches. There were, of course, a lot of different birds.

The lady at reception told us about places to visit and we chose to start with the 'Kiwi Encounter' at Rainbow Springs. We went on the guided tour and learned about this fascinating but endangered species. Kiwis are nocturnal creatures so in order to see them they were in enclosures where day and night were artificially reversed, so we couldn't take photos.

There was also a walkway going round past native trees including the silver tree fern, birds, including the Kea, and trout and eels.

By the time we had finished here the sun had gone, the hills were in cloud and it had turned cold.

When we left there we went to a church at Ohinemutu. This was a Maori church and the walls were covered in Maori patterns. There was a window looking out on Rotorua Lake with an etching of Christ dressed in a Maori cloak and was so placed that he appeared to be walking on the water. A friend had told us about this and was very moved by it but we were rather disappointed as it looked contrived. There was a sign asking not to take photos inside the church but we couldn't buy any either. The tombs were most unusual.