Motorhomes Caravans & Destinations
AROUND THE MOUNTAINS
Heather Whelan and partner Malcolm discover stunning scenery is the main attraction at Tongariro National Park
Heather Whelan enjoys the stunning scenery at Tongariro National Park
Tongariro National Park is home to three volcanic mountains – Ngāuruhoe, Tongariro, and Ruapehu. It’s New Zealand’s first national park, established in 1894 after chiefs and rangatira offered the land as a tuku (shared guardianship). The original area has been increased to 78,618 hectares and the park has been awarded dual World Heritage status for natural and cultural values.
NATIONAL PARK VILLAGE
We’ve walked the Tongariro Crossing before, so decided to explore some of the other walks in the area. National Park Village seemed like a good base – we’d seen there was a POP (Park Over Property) at the Railway Station Cafe. As we drove up to the cafe we saw there was a huge new parking area beside it, recently built by the Ruapehu District Council. Nevertheless, we parked in a grassy area beside the cafe and went in for lunch. The POP advertised free Wi-fi but when I went online I found it was free for the whole township, courtesy of the Ruapehu District Council.
At the far end of the parking area was a pristine new Kiwicamp facility. Unsure what this was, we investigated further and discovered that it is one of several such camps. These provide ablution blocks, cooking facilities, secure parking with power (if needed) and electric vehicle charging stations. The toilets were free to use, as was the adjacent dump station.
At an altitude of 825 metres, National Park Village is the country’s highest urban township, which developed after a station was built for the main trunk railway line. We soon saw Kiwirail’s Northern Explorer roll up and stop at the station.
We were less happy to hear the large number of trains that rattled and banged throughout the night, and decided to move into the parking area, further from the noise, where there were several other motorhomes and campervans.
SCULPTURES
As we walked down to the Schnapps Bar for dinner we spotted a pou whenua beside the Kiwicamp. Designed and carved over six months by a team that included three generations from one whānau, Uenuku Te Pou Tipua o Tūroa celebrates the tangata whenua who lived in the shadow of Ruapehu. With the snow-capped mountain behind, it was a reminder of the spiritual importance of the mountain to Māori.
There was a sculpture of a different kind outside the bar: a giant kiwi. Crafted by a guy known as Driftwood Jack, the bird is fashioned from wood that once grew in forests destroyed by the Taupō eruption 1800 years ago. Jack’s first creation, Raurimu Rex, stands beside State Highway 4 north of National Park.
FEATS OF ENGINEERING
Also by Highway 4 is a viewing platform with a model of the impressive Raurimu horseshoe curve and spiral – this solved the problem of a 139-metre height distance where two sections of track didn’t quite meet. You can make out the spiral on the hillside beyond.
Building the railway link between Auckland and Wellington involved many other tricky bits of engineering. Beside the Railway Cafe I’d perused a sign board mapping the local cycle trails (we’re planning to bring our bikes on our next visit).
One of the numerous trails is the Old Coach Road. Until two railheads were connected in 1908, passengers and goods travelled by horse and coach along this track.
TIKI-TOURING WHAKAPAPA
State Highway 48 leads towards an iconic landmark: the Chateau Tongariro Hotel. Built in 1929, the chateau exudes a Roaring Twenties vibe; visitors can order high tea in opulent surroundings. We were hoping to get coffee in the hotel’s Pihanga Cafe, but were too early, so opted for the mobile coffee cart outside the Whakapapa Holiday Park. Not only did we get excellent food and drink here, we also had the opportunity to brush up on our te reo as all the signs are bilingual.
There are several short walks around Whakapapa Village. Tawhai Falls are just a 10-minute walk from the road. The pool at the base of the falls is now known as Gollum’s Pool, since it was used as a location for The Lord of the Rings movies. We sat on the rocks, all part of an ancient lava flow, and soaked up the serenity. Not an orc in sight.
RIDING INTO THE CLOUDS
The Bruce Road leads from Whakapapa Village to the ski area. As there’s no skiing in summer, our December destination was the Sky Waka Gondola. Completed only a few months ago, these state of the art gondolas were designed by the Italian firm that works with Ferrari, and cost $25 million to build.
Tickets purchased, we hopped in and were transported at six metres per second up the rugged slopes of Mt Ruapehu. The views as we looked down and back at Mt Ngāuruhoe and the surrounding countryside were amazing. At the top we grabbed a coffee at the Pātaka Cafe in the Knoll Ridge Chalet. This futuristic structure has views of the Pinnacles through its floor-to- ceiling windows and from its viewing decks. There were little pockets of snow in the rocky crevices, which Malcolm couldn’t resist investigating. Soon after, we realised we really were in the clouds – we had no views at all on our ride back down: the mist enveloped us.
“There are several short walks around Whakapapa Village. Tawhai Falls are just a 10-minute walk from the road.”
LUNCH AT THE LAKES
Our main objective in visiting the area was to tackle the Tama Lakes walk. This is shorter and doesn’t have the elevation of the more famous Tongariro Crossing, but still took us nearly seven hours. It starts at Whakapapa Village and the first hour took us through a section of shady bush, ancient lava flows, and tussock to the Taranaki Falls, where water plummeted 20 metres to a pool below. Alpine herb fields and rolling tussock country stretched to the horizon, punctuated by the cone of Ngāuruhoe to our left and snow-capped Ruapehu on our right.
Volcanic activity formed the Tama 10,000 years ago as water seeped into craters, forming cold, freshwater lakes. We ate lunch at the lower lake, and then made our way up steep scree slopes to a viewpoint at 1440 metres. From here we had breathtaking views of both lakes and the mountain scenery.
Back at the Taranaki Falls, we descended over 100 steps and followed the Wairere Stream through beech forests, finally arriving back at the chateau. The scenery on the walk had been spectacular – a far cry from the grimness of Mordor and Mt Doom as portrayed in the Hobbit movies.
There are many more walks for us to enjoy in Tongariro National Park, plus those cycle trails. We’ll be back. ■
MORE INFORMATION
There is a visitor centre in Whakapapa Village, with maps and brochures of walks in and around Tongariro National Park. Download brochures from doc. govt.nz
Other websites: kiwicamp.nz; mtruapehu.com/sky-waka