sorry, lots of pictures for this one …
tuesday looked the best day weatherwise so we headed out of town towards the three giant volcanoes on the horizon
our plan was to go up to the ski area for a look around
then head back down to the chateau for afternoon tea
but timing meant we arrived at the chateau around lunchtime so sat in the warmth eating chips and looking out the amazing picture view windows
the volcano range is still active.
this is mount ngaruruhoe. it’s one of the three active volcanoes. it erupted 25 times in the 20th century, most recently in 1977 so it’s over due another blow
after lunch we got our sightseers tickets for the lift and headed up two chair lifts to a cafe somewhere up mount ruapehu (last erupted 2007, warnings last year that it might blow again as the crater lake showed pressure was building underneath)
this was probably the last week of the ski season so the mountain was starting to get a bit bare.
but esther bumped in to a couple of school friends and the mum took our picture
then we sat and admired the view and enjoyed the sun
kezia built a snow duck
then it was time to head back down
on the way back to taupo we drove a slightly different way so saw mount tongariro (last erupted november last year following a bigger eruption a couple of months earlier!)
there are still plumes of smoke coming out of it, which we could see from our holiday house when the cloud cleared.
these photos are across a lake nearby
and the photo below is from the deck of the holiday house
and there was another nice sunset
thankfully we didn’t have to follow the volcano evacuation instructions
it was a great day out, but poor esther was exhausted by the end of it!
