Our plan today was to drive the Volcanic loop which rather does what it says on the tin, it is a road that goes round both the volcanos. The lady in tourist information said it should take a couple of hours, but the map says 4 so we will see. We decided we would drive the loop this morning and then go for a walk this afternoon after we have had lunch however it didn’t quite work out like that. Our first stop was to look at the Tongariro river, but from the lookout you can’t actually see the river only the tree lined riverbank so we continued to the Tree trunk Gorge which is along a minor road so we were expecting the worst as it turned out this was actually a very good road. The best place to see the gorge is actually as it runs under a bridge so we parked up and went and had a look. It is actually quite deep but unfortunately as the sides are so steep you don’t really get a good look at it. We continued round until we got to Karioi which is where the road to Rotokura lake is, another quite good minor road. We got to the car park and found the pathway to the lake, the sign suggested we should see a dry lake on the way but we didn’t. When we got to Rotokura lake, which is a sacred lake it wasn’t as peaceful and serene as I thought it would be, but it was nice and it is also known as the high lake which was understandable if you could see the pathway to it – I think Chris might be thinking I am trying to do him in with all this climbing! We continued through the village of Ohakuen to the mountain road to the areas other ski resort which suddenly emerges from the trees as you drive up the road. This ski area is a lot smaller than the one we were at yesterday but as the slopes are south facing they are still skiing on this one – yes south facing is good here for ski slopes! It was quite strange walking round the car park with people all togged up in ski gear and carrying skis or snowboards. Unfortunately for them the bottom slopes are not open so they have to take the lift down and although we saw a couple of snowboarders get on the lift carrying their boards I am not quite sure what the skiers do, I assume it must be the same thing but who knows. We had a hot chocolate (much better than yesterday’s) watching the few people at the top of the mountain then drove back down to continue our loop. The final stop was the Mokototer Viaduct which is currently being re-painted. This is 78.6 metres high and 262 metres long and was the final bridge to be completed on the rail line in this area, I am not sure Chris would be keen to work on the bridge as a few of the guys were sitting on the edge with their legs hanging over having a coffee break! It was then time to complete the loop and head back to the apartment, we arrived back about 4pm having completed the 258km loop and our plan of having lunch then going for a walk rather went out the window, but at least we had a good chocolate and snack stop at the ski slopes. We decided to have a rest when we got back as we are on the move again tomorrow so after updating the website, doing some ironing, making tea and packing there was still a little time to relax before it was time for bed!
