Mount Ruapehu volcano. From the Northern Explorer train which runs between Wellington and Auckland.
Mt Ruapehu.
This mountain is the highest on the North Island at 2979 metres (9,773 feet) and near by a similar height peaks Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. This volcanic area of NZ was presented to the Crown in 1887 by Chief Ngati Tuwharetoa on condition that they be set aside as a national park which they were. Tongariro National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990. The main settlement in the park is the township of National Park where the train stops. Whakapapa ski field is located on the slopes of Tongariro. Since 1886 all three volcanoes have erupted and been active. Mt Ruapehu had a spectacular eruptions in 1995 but on a world scale these eruptions are small. For example the 1980 St Helen’s eruption in America was 10 times more powerful. More disastrous was the 1953 eruption of Ruapehu which broke up a crater lake and sent a flood down the mountain side which washed the overnight train from Wellington to Auckland down then Whangaehu River. 151 people were killed in that disaster. Recorded eruptions of Mt Ruapehu have been in 1886, 1895, 1945 and 1995.
Mount Ruapehu volcano. From the Northern Explorer train which runs between Wellington and Auckland.
Mt Ruapehu.
This mountain is the highest on the North Island at 2979 metres (9,773 feet) and near by a similar height peaks Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. This volcanic area of NZ was presented to the Crown in 1887 by Chief Ngati Tuwharetoa on condition that they be set aside as a national park which they were. Tongariro National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990. The main settlement in the park is the township of National Park where the train stops. Whakapapa ski field is located on the slopes of Tongariro. Since 1886 all three volcanoes have erupted and been active. Mt Ruapehu had a spectacular eruptions in 1995 but on a world scale these eruptions are small. For example the 1980 St Helen’s eruption in America was 10 times more powerful. More disastrous was the 1953 eruption of Ruapehu which broke up a crater lake and sent a flood down the mountain side which washed the overnight train from Wellington to Auckland down then Whangaehu River. 151 people were killed in that disaster. Recorded eruptions of Mt Ruapehu have been in 1886, 1895, 1945 and 1995.