Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing everything in its path, including a railway bridge. Moments later a crowded train
plunged into the river, killing 151 people; it was one of NZ's worst tragedies.
Ruapehu hasn't let up, with significant eruptions occurring with suspicious frequency.
In 2007 a primary-school teacher had a lucky shave when a rock was propelled through
the roof of a trampers' shelter, crushing his leg.
Ongoing rumbles are reminders that these volcanoes in the area are very much in the
land of the living. The last major event was in 2012 when
Mt Tongariro
- the northern-
most and lowest peak in the park (1967m) - gave a couple of good blasts from its north-
ern craters, causing a nine-month partial closure of the famous Alpine Crossing track.
(To see video of recent eruptions, visit
www.doc.govt.nz/eruption
.
)
Northeast of Ruapehu is
Mt Ngauruhoe
, at 2287m, the youngest of the three volca-
noes. Its first eruptions are thought to have occurred 2500 years ago. Until 1975 Ngaur-
uhoe had erupted at least every nine years, including a 1954 eruption that lasted 11
months and disgorged 6 million cu metres of lava. In contrast to the others, which have
multiple vents, Ngauruhoe is a conical, single-vent volcano with perfectly symmetrical
slopes - the reason that it was chosen to star as Mt Doom in Peter Jackson's
Lord of the
Rings
.
Tongariro was NZ's first national park, established in 1887. The previous year, in the
aftermath of the New Zealand Wars (Land Wars), the Native Land Court met to determ-
ine the ownership of the land around Tongariro. Ngati Tuwharetoa chief Horonuku Te
Heuheu Tukino IV pleaded passionately for the area to be left intact, mindful of Pakeha
eyeing it up for grazing. 'If our mountains of Tongariro are included in the blocks passed
through the court in the ordinary way,' said the chief, 'what will become of them? They
will be cut up and sold, a piece going to one Pakeha and a piece to another.'
In 1887 chief Horonuku ensured the land's everlasting preservation when he presented
the area to the Crown for the purpose of a national park, the first in NZ and only the
fourth in the world. With incredible vision for a man of his time, the chief realised that
Tongariro's value lay in its priceless beauty and heritage, not as another sheep paddock.
Development of the national park was slow, and it was only after the main trunk rail-
road reached the region in 1909 that visitors arrived in significant numbers. Development
mushroomed in the 1950s and 1960s as roads were sealed, tracks cut and more huts built.
Today the park is the most popular in NZ, receiving around one million visitors per an-
num. Many visitors come to ski - Ruapehu's snowfields being the only legitimate ski
area north of Wellington - but more people arrive each summer to tramp up, down and
around the mountains. The park can get busy, most noticeably on the popular day walks,
but most visitors consider this a small price to pay for the chance to experience its magic.
