Friday 28^th. March. 

Today I climbed Mount Ruapehu the biggest volcano in the area 287 metres higher than Taranaki and the tallest mountain on the North Island, although the highest I reach is about 2700 metres.

First of all I drive higher up the mountain from the Chateau in Whakapapa Village up the very good two lane Bruce Road to Iwikau Village. This is New Zealand’s interpretation of an Alpine Ski Village: Wait till you see the photos.

 

They Ski all over the flank of this mountain, and the village is very small by European comparison, but there is a lot of car parking space, 2 chair lifts and 7 tows. The huts and chalets are well spread out in a desolate landscape of bare brown volcanic rock: I bet they are always desperately waiting for the snow.

 

The Village is at 1600 metres and the Tahurangi Peak of Ruapehu is 2797 metres, so I shun the chair lift where a bus load of school kids is queuing to board, and stomp up the rough access track below the lift. From the start of the second lift you alternate between the vehicle access track and a very rough walking track. I don’t linger where they have bulldozed the track below lava flows that look a bit precarious to me.

 

As I climb the track which wends its way beneath the lift I have friendly banter with the school kids overhead. As it is I nearly get to the top station before the last of them.

 

Looking back at Iwikau Village

At the top station there is a large modern café and a separate large classroom.

Unlike most walks in NZ there is very little indication of where to go, so I take the only obvious track up to the left, and in about an hour reach a col on the pinnacle ridge.

 

Tongariro and Ngauruhoe from Pinacle Ridge with the Tama craters between us.

In the first photo above you can see Pinnacle Ridge to the left where you emerge on the skyline from the chairlift couloir, and from there you walk up sometimes loose and rocky scree and scramble up some patches of good sound rock to the high point on the left skyline. From there you just follow the crater rim skyline round to the right. The furthest I got on the skyline crater rim is to the Col, as the way from there to the highest peak of the crater rim looked far too dangerous, loose scree over steep glacier or cliffs, followed by some serious steep knife edge climbing. However, from the Col there is a subsidiary ridge jutting out into the crater, leading to the Dome and I walked out to the Mountain Hut there. Contractors were working on the hut, but they had flown in by helicopter.



From the top you can see Taranaki above the clouds 85km. away 

 

Came down the Central Couloir

As I come down the last of the rocky couloir I catch up with a lady with wind-blown grey hair and bright red leggings, moving steadily and carefully towards the top station of the chairlift, and after the obligatory mountain greeting I swear that I had the tables turned on me for once, and she chatted me up, flirted almost, rather than my usual way. Janet was the last of a guided group that had come up the chairlift and then walked up to the Dome. I had crossed paths on my way there as they descended. I enjoyed her company, and as I was going to walk down, I left her to rejoin the group and her husband in the café, from where they would take the chairlift.

When I was well below the middle station I heard a yahoo and turned to see a pair of bright red leggings, and a couple of people waving from a chair behind me. I waved back, and the leggings were soon right overhead. I am pretty fit after all my time in NZ and I decided to see if I could beat the chairlift down, so I ran down the track in the way that mountaineers do, and was there to be introduced to David as they got off. We are all staying at Chateau Tongariro, and later I discover Janet sans bright red leggings, dressed smartly, hair nicely under control, looking very attractive with a lovely smile. I have coffee with Janet and David this evening, and will have dinner with them tomorrow evening, so now I have 3 Janet and David couples as friends.

Janet is a Kiwi who went travelling in in her youth and never got home after meeting David in his home Country Australia. They are taking the opportunity of having a holiday here after separately visiting their respective mothers in Nelson and Melbourne. More in tomorrow’ s post.