Ron Laughlin The Ultimate New Zealand Travel Guide
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Trail of Discovery!
with Ron Laughlin - the Guru of NZ Travel
with Ron Laughlin - the Guru of NZ Travel
Well when in the central North Island it is a must to drive through the high desert country and the Tongariro National Park, the first national park in New Zealand in 1887 and the fourth in the world and a good reason it was so proclaimed. See the volcanoes up close and personal for one. Great views of all three mountains, Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings filiming locations) and Mt Ruapehu - a unique dual world heritage area and the fascinating surrounding desert country (not the all sand type you may think of but covered in native tussock).
We stopped in the town of National Park, visit Oakuna our carrot capital, and Whakapapa Village.
The area is world reknowned for the walks especially the Tongariro Crossing its summer walks and its winter skiing. Let's not forget the NZ Miltary Museum at Wairau............
Rachel and I were staying at the Turangi Holiday Park that is convenient for here and we had also scheduled in the rafting yesterday headquartered at Turangi.
Today Rachel was going to mountain bike in the Taupo area but it was raining so it was actually a perfect time for me to take her on an exploratory look at this area since we would be heading back to Auckland instead of going on south.
As Rachel pointed out we enjoyed a rainy day in the high country desert............
Check out the DoC website for information
We stopped in the town of National Park, visit Oakuna our carrot capital, and Whakapapa Village.
The area is world reknowned for the walks especially the Tongariro Crossing its summer walks and its winter skiing. Let's not forget the NZ Miltary Museum at Wairau............
Rachel and I were staying at the Turangi Holiday Park that is convenient for here and we had also scheduled in the rafting yesterday headquartered at Turangi.
Today Rachel was going to mountain bike in the Taupo area but it was raining so it was actually a perfect time for me to take her on an exploratory look at this area since we would be heading back to Auckland instead of going on south.
As Rachel pointed out we enjoyed a rainy day in the high country desert............
Check out the DoC website for information
Day Six - 29 December 2013 -
Tour of the Tongariro National Park
Tour of the Tongariro National Park
