So we woke up this morning to a wonderfully sunny day possibly a little too sunny as the blinds didn’t actually close properly and I ended up with the sun streaming into my eyes but it was lovely to see and we had breakfast on the veranda. Then it was time to go to Turangi to find out if Ruapehu mountain is open. I am not sure that Chris was happy with the answer that it is as that means we get to go up the chairlift and more importantly we get to come down the chairlift – not something he has ever really enjoyed! On the drive to he national park we had wonderful views of the mountains, one perfectly formed volcanic cone which actually has steam vents on the side. We hadn’t realised until we were driving to the ski area but this is another geothermal area, we saw a couple of signs for hot pools but decided against going around to them. The drive up to the ski resort was rather strange as there is no snow and no grass either as it is a very volcanic area. We went to the ‘lift office’ and brought our lift pass and walked to the chairlift, I have to say it is so much easier to get on when you have skis on your feet. There are actually 2 chairlifts open for you to get a scenic view of the mountain, the first takes you to an area where you can walk to another film location for lord of the rings or provides you with the path to walk across to the second chairlift. As we rode the second lift the slopes started to have snow on them and by the time we got off the lift the ground still had quite a bit of snow, very much spring skiing but you could have done some skiing if you really wanted to. We went into the cafe for a hot chocolate and muffin before we started exploring and just to confirm alpine restaurants the world over make you walk downstairs in ski boots if you want to go to the loo! We read the information sheet on what to do if there is a volcanic eruption, the good news is neither of the lifts we use are actually in the lahar (volcanic mud) flow zone. We had a walk round the top but just to confirm what they say about weather changing quickly in the mountains, between us drinking our hot chocolate and going for a short walk the clouds had closed in and the wind had picked up so we started the journey back down. It was really cold as the wind has really picked up and heading down the chairlift you are facing into the wind luckily we had lots of layers to put on. Not sure what the temperature at the very top was but at the car it was 39f which is probably why with the wind chill it was so cold! We had our lunch looking at the steam being vented from the mountain, it would seem that seismic activity at the Mt Ruapehu crater lake has increased, the lake was heating at a rate of 1c per day until it reached a peak of 40c on 4th October, apparently it has now cooled slightly but they reported some tremors on 25 and 28 October – before we got here so I don’t think we will see anything. We took a drive round the park after lunch and in the valley it was 59f so a temperature swing of 20 degrees! We went looking for a ‘Wild West town’ but either it has closed down or we needed to go even further down the dirt track road we were on but we weren’t sure that the car would make it so we headed back to the apartment for a relax and something to eat.
