Te Tatau-Pounamu – the other Tongariro wilderness Te Tatau-Pounamu. A guide to the seldom visited Te Tatau-Pounamu wilderness area on the eastern side of Mt Tongariro in the World Heritage Tongariro National Park Tongariro National Park holds a prestigious position in the list of the world’s protected natural areas—the park is one of only 29 … Read more
Mt Tongariro and the ancient molten lava lake at North Crater A 2 day hiking loop trip over Mt Tongariro and past the once molten lava lake that occupied the North Crater before cooling and solidifying. When the warrior gods Tongariro and Taranaki fought over the lovely Pihanga flames lit up the sky, … Read more
Lake Monowai Circuit – Fiordland National Park A 4 day tramp/ packraft circuit including Green Lake and Lake Monowai in Fiordland National Park We declared this trip to be one of New Zealand’s ’11 Great Packrafts’ (like the Great Walks). The trip started with my dad dropping us off at the road end by Borland Bivy … Read more
Our lodge has had a reasonable amount of use over summer although a bit disappointing as there could have been a lot more use and as one passerby said it looked a bit forlorn all locked up with no activity. This time of the year there has been some superb weather on the mountain as … Read more
As once described by Queen Elizabeth it has been an annus horribilis for the year. Not just this year but for a second year in a row. Trying to keep the financial situation is proving to be a headache. Although we were open during part of the ski season, we suffered the loss of income … Read more
So the ski season has ended for RAL on Labour Day. Given that there was still plenty of upper mountain snow under normal conditions the lifts would have continued to operate for a bit longer but nothing is normal this year or indeed last. The summer program for the Gondola and Cafeteria will commence on … Read more
Unlike last year lady luck was with us following the announcement that the essential part of New Zealand was to move back to level 2. That meant that we completed ski week 1 and opened again for ski week 2 and hopefully the coming school holidays. Ski week 2 was very successful with the only … Read more
It certainly is a case of deja vu after last year’s devastating lock down coincidentally about the same time of the year. We can only hope that the hard level 4 will get us out of this without too much damage. My thoughts go to all involved last year and this year to make the … Read more
We have passed the first group of school holidays with a good turn out of families staying at the lodge over the two-week period. Unfortunately, only the lower mountain was open for skiing due to the poor covering of snow on the upper mountain. Happy valley was open most days for skiing and the Rangatira … Read more
Lodge Update: Our Maunga June 2021 Last weekend we had the pleasure of joining a club trip celebrating the winter solstice. A good time was had by all with a Christmas meal, great music, dancing, and lots of good fun. The day trips on Saturday were varied but most did the Kiriwhakapapa circuit in pleasant … Read more