Mt Ruapehu skiing weekend

We left work early on Friday to beat the traffic and make our way down to the Tongariro National park in the centre on the north island. Mt Ruapehu is home to the ski fields of the north island and is also an active volcano. We were up early in the mornings for some cracking days of skiing in the sunshine.

Parking and getting excited with the slopes awaiting!

The views from the chair lifts were excellent. We could even see above the cloud and across to Mt Ngauruhoe (also know as 'Mt Doom' in Lord of the Rings).

Mt Ngauruhoe

Over the weekend we slowly progressed higher up the mountain feeling a little more in control. We did have some spectacular falls though and somehow managed to collide head-on with each other at one stage!

The local thermal springs provided a soothing end to our days of skiing and thankfully we returned to Auckland without any broken bones. We are now just searching our diaries for another weekend to head down before the season finishes!