After a night of heavy rain and wind rocking the motor home, we woke up to sunshine with a beautiful view over Lake Taupo to enjoy our coffee too. With the sunshining, we decided to go ahead and head to Tongariro National Park. The park encompasses Mount Ruapehu a dormant volcano. There is a well-known hike up and over the volcano that is popular in the summer. But with 12.5 miles and 2800 feet of elevation gain, that was not on our to do list. We had plans to do a hike to Tawhai Falls, but the weather had other ideas. As we climbed in altitude toward the park from Lake Taupo, the clouds moved in and started peppering us with rain. As we got to the national park, it was raining hard. We drove on up to the visitor center and talked with one of the park rangers and got a park stamp. It’s not really a thing like it is in the states! After leaving the visitor center, we drove further up the mountain until the road ended at the ski resort. In the winter, the volcano is a popular ski destination. But at higher altitudes we were in the clouds and mist and could not see more than 20 yards in any direction. We drove back down to the falls trail head hoping the weather had improved, but the rain was blowing sideways. So, we headed for Napier through alternating sun and heavy rain/sleet. The wind was blowing us all over the road. We arrived in Napier to sunshine but too late to visit any of the wineries. Many are closed due to damage from a cyclone last year. Rest close early for some reason. But we were able to snag reservations at the Mission winery and restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful dinner accompanied by the winery’s best wines and port. We stayed at the Kennedy Park Resort in Napier.
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| Kennedy Park Resort Site |
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| Tongariro National Park Entrance Sign |
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| Conditions near the top of the volcano road |
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| Lake Taupo from an overlook |
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