NZ in Pictures: tongariro national park

Tongariro National Park, July 16th 2015

Tongariro Visitor Centre (i-Site) on the left, main road on the right.

Terrific visitor centre this is. They go beyond providing detail information about the walks and tracks. Lots and lots can be learned in this seemingly little place. About the national park itself as I mentioned a bit in previous post, about Maori culture, and about the needs to hike up to the summit which more often mentioned as "tramping". I was fortunate that on the day of my visit, movie free day. Yes, they have a theater.

Ridge Track, one of the shortest track.

Quoting from the booklet "Walks in and around Tongariro National Park":
After a short climb through low beech forest, the track emerges into alpine shrublands with panoramic views of Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and the surrounding landscape.
Interestingly, on the booklet it says 30-40 minutes return, whereas on this board it's 1 hour return.

Beech forest.

Alpine shrubs coming into sight.

A winter view I could not imagine.

First, I was still convincing myself that it was, winter. I thought I knew winter. No, it's entirely different on the Southern hemisphere. Second, the morning I woke up, the sky was just as grey as the afternoon I arrived and I still could hear rain drops on my roof this morning. Now... look!

Touching NZ snow for the first time.

It's the day of miracle.

Actually I went to the visitor centre, because I read an ad at my hostel saying something like this: "Raining? Come and watch movie."

Awesome.

The surface had changed into winding steps way up... up... up....
See that black curve on left picture?

I thought this was the climax. But there were still steps ahead.

That's it. End of track.

Close up. Ruapehu? Ngauruhoe? I guess, Ngauruhoe.

Frankly speaking, I was disappointed. However, I had chosen Ridge Track regardless the strong suggestion from the visitor centre's staff to take Whakapapanui Walking Track instead. The beauty was more along the way actually, and to the feeling of accomplishment making it to the end of track.

Not long after, a New Zealand couple arrived. "Is this it?" they sighed.

The view back behind.

That blue structure there is near the point where I had come from. See that main road? No so bad a job, after all.
I saluted myself :D

Meanwhile that grey sky hovering above National Park Village seemed to be rolling over my way.

From National Park to Tongariro National Park,
July 16th 2015

National Park or sometimes also called National Park Village, borders with Tongariro National Park, which is the first national park established (1887) in New Zealand and the fourth in the world. Acknowledge by UNESCO as a world heritage, Tongariro National Park is described as the following:

In 1993 Tongariro became the first property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under the revised criteria describing cultural landscapes. The mountains at the heart of the park have cultural and religious significance for the Maori people and symbolize the spiritual links between this community and its environment. The park has active and extinct volcanoes, a diverse range of ecosystems and some spectacular landscapes.

Spectacular landscapes! Indeed.