Whakapapa Village, New Zealand

... in Tongariro NP were we stayed on the tent site next to a hostel. The nex day we started walking the Northern Circuit from Whakapapa (pronounced fa-ka-pa-pa). The weather was perfect for the walk, it has to be clear and sunny cause you walk in 1400 m ...

We drove up to Whakapapa village and then beyond there to the Whakapapa ski field which was a major location for the Lord of the Rings movie, namely Mordor and Mount Doom. As we hadn't seen Mt Ruapehu without snow cover before it became really apparent ...

... over, that it was the site for several Lord of the Rings scenes.    We were staying in a small ski village called Whakapapa, which was home to a very cool Chateau built in 1929 with a 9 hole golf course.  Tongariro national park is ...

28/08/08 Early start ready for our walk to Taranaki Falls and back, there was so much snow that all the other walks were closed off including the infamous Tongariro Crossing. There were spectacular views of Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. For ...