Friday 28th February
This is the view of Mount Ruapehu that greeted us from our room when we woke up today.

These huge grasses line the railway track and spread into the fields and verges on the way into the National Park.

This is a view of Mount Ruapehu from the other side as we were travelling to Whakapapa.

As we drove up the mountain to the ski area, we passed several streams and small waterfalls by the side of the road.

The chair lift seemed a good way to go up the mountain - we had to use two lifts to reach the height of just over 6000ft.

The views were amazing from the top - we were even higher than the surrounding clouds.

On the way down we were able to see the summit of Mount Ngauruhoe clearly above the cloud layer.

We followed the Taranaki Falls trails for an hour and this is the view of Mount Ruapehu looking across an old volcanic crater.

The track led us through a forest area where the trees are covered in moss and lichen.

 We crossed several pretty streams on our route.

At one place we took a break and left this small stone tower as our marker.

A bridge led us across this water fall where the view opened out.

We eventually arrived at Taranaki Falls where the water pours 60 feet over the edge.

Thursday 27th February
The streets in Wanganui are very smart and the town is noted for having 1000 hanging baskets.

We drove to the edge of town for a stroll round Virginia Lake.

The Winter Garden at the end of the walk was full of bright begonias and other tropical plants.

We headed north on Highway 4 and could see why some of the Hobbit scenes were filmed around here.

We came across this fence where about 100 metres in length is strung with old shoes and it seems that this is a development of the American Shoe Trees which are made simply as a tourist attraction.

This is the river that we were following and we stopped here for lunch by the side of the road.

We drove into Whakapapa village in the the middle of Tongariro National Park and this is our first sighting of Mount Ngauruhoe, the middle one in a line of 3 volcanoes.

We followed the trail through the forests to Silica Rapids. In a couple of places we crossed the river as we headed upstream.

The route led us on to a good wooden boardwalk across the swamp with the cloud covered summit of Mount Ruapehu in the background.

We arrived at Silica rapids and climbed a little higher to enjoy the views and fresh air.

Wednesday 26th February
We left Wellington and headed north west. After an hour and a half we took a break at Foxton Beach. There are miles of sand dunes here and we have never seen a speed limit sign on a beach before.

When we reached Wanganui, we took the road the road that followed the river up the valley. The views from the road that ran alongside the river were lovely.

Back in town we climbed Durie Hill Tower which is the local war memorial. It has 176 steps to the top with fine views in all directions.

Tuesday 25th February
We caught the cable car from the quayside to the Botanic Gardens and had some great views from the top although it was cloudy in the distance.

We walked down through the Botanic Gardens which are varied, contain some unusual plants and are very well maintained. We followed the sculpture trail down to the rose garden and begonia house.

The new parliament building is known locally as the Beehive and is built using a system that allows the it to move during an earthquake.

Nearby is Old St. Paul's Church which is unusual because it is made entirely of wood and the inside is beautifully preserved.

Later in the day we visited Te Papa Tongarewa, the museum of New Zealand.
www.tepapa.govt.nz

Monday 24th February
We drove from Masterton due East to Castle Point. For an hour we travelled through lovely farmland with lots of small rolling hills.

Castle Point headland has the only sheet metal lighthouse in New Zealand and is the first light that sailors from South America see.

It is part of a beautiful bay surrounded by small houses and cabins.

We walked up past the lighthouse to a viewpoint looking back to a rock that represents an octopus in Maori legend.

As we were walking back, we saw a boat being launched in the calm lagoon just off the beach.

On our way to Wellington we crossed this forested range of mountains with some very steep climbs, descents and sharp bends.

In the early evening we walked down to the quayside in Wellington and saw a number of these boats being paddled in and out of the bay.