Today I am flying with Mountain Air over the Tongariro National Park and World Heritage site (1990).

Tongariro was declared New Zealand's first national park in 1887, only the fourth area in the world to be protected.

Departure is at 1pm and the weather is sunny with scattered clouds and in the meatime I am walking to a small and beautiful waterfall.

After take off, we pass over a farmland and have a good views of a group of cows and then head for the volcanoes.

The Ruapehu and Tongariro/Ngauruhoe volcanoes are semi-active and the last eruption occured in 1995/1996, ruining the ski season.

We start by flying over the Tongariro Crossing. The Tongariro Crossing is called the best one-day hike in New Zealand.

We now fly over the Ketetahi Hot Springs and its steaming fumaroles, Blue Lake and the brightly contrasting Emerald Lakes.

From there we have a good view of the Lake Taupo (in the background).

The scenery is so fantastic that Mt Ngauruhoe's flawlessly sculptured symmetrical cone was used in Lord of the Rings for Mount Doom.

We then head for the largest and tallest volcano in New Zealand: Mt Ruapehu.

On our right we can see the pristine Tamu Lakes.

We now get over to Mount Ruapehu and start to turn around it clockwise. Strong winds are blowing away the recently falled snow.

Regular monitoring is carried out on this Mt Ruapehu volcano and its Crater Lake: volcanic activity from even small eruptions may cause potentially dangerous mudflows or ‘lahars'.

Crater Lake is one of two crater lakes (the other one is in Kelut, Java) regarded as classic case studies of interaction between magmatic fluids and lake water which often produce lahars. The Lake is surrounded by permanent ice and snow and is the most accessible and by far most active of only two or three such active crater lakes on the planet.
This acid Lake has been rising steadily since the last eruptions in 1995/1996. Between April 2001 and March 2004, the Lake level rose by 23 metres.

Here is a large view Mount Ruapehu. Notice the North Crater in the foreground.

We then fly back and have an excellent view of the Central Desert.

This flight was absolutly amazing and gave me the opportunity to take outstanding pictures of the different pristine lakes and volcanoes. This is definitly a must do in New Zealand!

Mountain Air - Mount Ruapehu
Tel: +64 7 892 2812
Fax: +64 7 892 2703
mountain.air@xtra.co.nz
Toll Free 0800 922 812 (NZ)