Ruapheu January 14
Monday, May 21st, Afternoon
We drove through one of the national parks on our way south. The park is named Tongariro National Park and is a World Heritage site. The pictures are of the highest peak on the north island, Mount Ruapheu. We knew that we were near the mountain for a while, but it was not until we circled around the south side of the mountain that we actually saw it because of the cloud cover, but as we hit the south side the clouds parted and we saw the mountain, it was a great sight.
The mountain was a lot bigger and closer than it appears in the pictures.
The road went through a pretty barren stretch along here, it was actually called a desert. There wasn’t much growing and no towns or anything.
Another view of the mountain from a little further down the road.