Playing in the Volcanoes Shadow
The mountains that have restricted development to many of New Zealand's valleys and coasts have left New Zealanders with a sense of a vast wild playground on their back doorstep.
As well as Ruapehu’s ski fields, Tongariro National Park is popular with hunters and fishermen, home to The Grand Chateau, a gracious and opulent 1930’s style hotel, and to the highest nine-hole golf course in New Zealand.
Across the country, even where there are no formal facilities, the hills are lined by walking trails. In a land rippled and buckled by volcanic activity, landscapes are varied and diverse. Hiking tracks lead through forest, winter snowfields, barren lava flows, hot springs and active volcanic craters - at times all on the same hike.
A walkway between the craters of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, the Tongariro Crossing
[ more about the Tongariro Crossing ]
, is tipped as the best one-day walk in New Zealand.
The lakes and stream network of the Rotorua volcanic area alone encompass some fourteen lakes and over sixty rivers and streams, renowned for the rare combination of seclusion and excellent trout fishing.
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| Proud anglers with their catch, Lake Rotorua 1903 |
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