Apr 24th: From One Volcano to Another

Day 21 (Day 17 in New Zealand)

The place we are staying at is a little different to previous places. It’s a B&B built onto the side of the owner’s house. The whole property is wood. I have a feeling he built the entire place (including all the furniture) himself as it is all so unique.

We needed to use the washing machine and the owner directed us to his ‘shed’. Shed? It’s the size of a small factory with loads of bench power tools. Clearly a very clever man. Have a look at the property as we booked it to see what I mean.

One of the reasons we booked it was its remoteness it’s about 10 miles from the nearest town of Ohakune. Also we wanted to be near Tongariro National Park and this place, while just outside the park boundary, is in the shadow of Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano (though it’s been ‘asleep’ for 17 years)!

View from junction of Middle Rd and State Highway 4
(250 yds from our B&B according to Google!)

First port of call today was to drive back to town and along Ohakune Mountain Road. Sounds dangerous but it is smooth tarmac all the way. After a short forest walk at the bottom with lovely birdsong…


Another ‘vertical pano’ - better than the last effort 

… we drove all the way to the top stopping frequently to take photos. There were So many opportunities but the results don’t do justice to actually being here.





On the way down we stopped at a waterfall. There were several to choose from but this was the closest.



Strange to think it will be packed with skiers in a few weeks but today it was eerily quiet save a few construction workers.

Back at the bottom we walked along a river path. Quite pleasant but not outstanding. We decided to walk back along the road and look at all the different houses that have been built. After a few yards we saw a lovely chalet-style house and it was for sale. Not just for sale but the ‘realtor’ (yukkee Americanism for ‘estate agent’) was sat outside showing an open house.

She saw us looking and thought we might be buyers. Julie can’t pass a ‘for sale’ house without looking at it. We were totally honest with her and asked if we could look around. She was really friendly and gave us the grand tour. It was finished to a very high standard. I was ready to buy it as soon as we walked in to the ‘mud room’ and saw the heated boot warmers! Never heard of them. Must be a skiing thing.

Asking price is NZ$785,000 which is about £375,000! See what you think as I found the real estate blurb on it. Nice, huh?



Back in the car we decided to drive another 60km into Tongariro National Park to go up the other side of Mt Ruapehu. Equally spectacular but with less cloud. In a lot of our photos (if you could see all of them) we were above the cloud line which looked like the proverbial cotton wool.

Julie takes better selfies than I do. Shorter arms, I think.



Off to Rotorua tomorrow for a Maori Cultural Experience in the evening. 

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