{"id":11599,"date":"2012-11-15T08:41:31","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T08:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=11599"},"modified":"2012-11-13T11:46:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T11:46:17","slug":"volcanic-runs-lake-taupo-and-hot-river-bathing-new-zealand-day-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2012\/11\/volcanic-runs-lake-taupo-and-hot-river-bathing-new-zealand-day-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Volcanic Runs, Lake Taupo and Hot River Bathing – New Zealand Day 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 15 of our trip to New Zealand started early for me – There’s nothing unusual there, most days start early for me and when in such a beautiful place I want to make the most of it by grabbing every hour that I can. I started off by going out for a run whilst Anna and Morgan slept in the camper.<\/p>\n

Running in the Mountains and the Perfect Volcano<\/h1>\n

There are loads of walking tracks that start or pass through Whakapapa Village on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu so I was spoilt for choice as to where to go. They are all well marked and, as with most trails that we had come across in New Zealand, they even have estimated walking times on the signs. I decided to start with an easy run along one of the shorter trails, The Ridge Trail, which was marked as taking 1 hour as a return walk.<\/p>\n

The trail starts off in the woodland at Whakapapa Village and starts climbing immediately. It then emerges out of the the trees and continues up the mountain to a turnaround point. It was a gorgeous morning with blue skies, no wind, the sun rising and I had the mountain to myself. As I emerged from the forest into the sunlight I was treated an absolutely stunning view of Mount Nguaruhoe in the distance. We hadn’t been able to see it yesterday as it had been shrouded in cloud so had driven up the slopes of Mount Ruapehu oblivious to its existence.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a>

First View of\u00a0Nguaruhoe<\/p><\/div>\n

Now that I could see it in all its glory it was quite a sight – the perfect volcano. If you asked Morgan or any other 7 year old to draw a volcano, this is what they would draw. In fact even if you asked me, a 41 year old with a degree in geology to draw a volcano then this is what I’d draw. Nguaruhoe was resplendent in the morning sunlight, a\u00a0perfectly conical mountain peak with a crater at the top and snow on its flanks. OK the snow capped top may be replaced by lava if Morgan were drawing it and it might have smoke spewing from the crater but it looked every part the volcano this morning. I stopped running to take a few photos and then stopped again on the way back down. I might never be here again and the running could wait while I got some photos for the album \/ weblog \/ book.<\/p>\n

\"Tongariro<\/a>

Nguaruhoe\u00a0Sunrise<\/p><\/div>\n

By the time I had stopped for photos and returned to the start point of the Ridge Trail it had only taken me 13 minutes, quite a bit less than the 1 hour walking time. I therefore decided to do another of the trails and this time picked the 1 hour 15 minute Silica Rapids Trail… As I set off I failed to notice that this wasn’t the return time, but the estimated 1 way time, so the entire trail was estimated to take 2.5 hours at walking pace. Again this trail soon pointed upwards as it snaked its way first through forest and then out onto open moorland, following the Whakapapanui River as it did so. Across raised boardwalks, over little bridges, past pools reflecting the mountains high above and onto more rugged mountain track. Again there were amazing views of the mountains, especially Nguaruhoe\u00a0to the NE so I stopped several times for photos.<\/p>\n

\"Mountain<\/a>

Mountain Reflection<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t