Tongariro National Park

Friday, October 14

Another day of memories! Today we headed up into the mountains of the Tongariro forest. There are 3 huge mountains, Mt. Tongariro (6,490 ft), Mt. Ngauruhoe (7,516 ft) and Mt. Ruapehu (9,177 ft). Nestled in between are 2 volcano craters that have filled with water..blue neon lakes, and Tatanaki Falls. The story of the falls is that if you look very close you can see faces in the rocks. The Māori people believe these are the spirits of their ancestors watching out for their people and making sure they are taking care of the land. We did a 10+ mile hike and all of it was stunning. I will confess that the two lakes are called the upper and lower Tama lakes. I hiked to the lower lake but Dale did another 1 1/2 miles up to the upper lake (it’s shaped like a horse shoe). It’s pretty chilly but the heater works well in the van! Lol! Love and miss you all!