Alpine treats at Tongariro National Park

By COLIN MOORE

When the snow melts on the mountains of Tongariro National Park it reveals an alpine world that snow-sports enthusiasts can barely imagine.

Like a desert after rainfall, the volcanic moonscape of Mt Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro come to life with delicate alpine flowers, mosses and lichens. The melted snow feeds mountain streams that blossom with tiny aquatic life. The streams refresh rivers that will carry rafters and kayakers with the summer sun on their backs.

It is a world unlike the winter playground for which the World Heritage Park is perhaps best known. It is also a world that invariably captivates those who take a summer break in the mountains instead of at the beach.

Undoubtedly the best way to appreciate the mountain summer is on the Department of Conservation's (DoC) Tongariro-Taupo summer programme. Each summer DoC organises guided activities in various conservancies throughout the country. The programme centred on Tongariro National Park is one of the longest-running, most comprehensive and most respected.

It starts on December 27 and runs almost every day until January 28.

Many of the activities are especially for families, and they leave from Taupo, Turangi, the Whakapapa visitor centre at Mt Ruapehu, and Ohakune.

You can loosely divide the programme into three types: mountains, bush and stream. A guided walk over the famed Tongariro Crossing, often described as the best one-day walk in New Zealand, is held six times between December 27 and January 27.

It is a long and tiring day, walking from the glacial carved Mangatepopo Valley, over the craters of Mt Tongariro, past the Ketetahi hot springs and through totara forest to the Ketetahi carpark. But it is suitable for people 10 years and over and there can be no safer way to make the crossing than on a guided DoC trip. The cost, which includes transport from Turangi or the Whakapapa visitor centre, is $25 for adults and $20 for children.

The mountain activities also include two off-trail walks, one to the summit of Mt Tongariro and another over the saddle between Pinnacle Ridge and Te Heuheu that is above the Valley T-bar - and down the course of the Wairere Stream to Whakapapa village.

Two trips go exploring the mountains for the diversity of plant life that has adapted to the harsh alpine environment. There are also mountain trips that explore lahar paths and glacial valleys.

Another two walks visit Tama Lakes, between Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe, one going on to the historic Waihohonu Hut.

"What's in a stream," on January 28, is an annual family favourite. Armed with a small net, a white board and collection jars, children are guaranteed to be fascinated by the stream life that a DoC specialist will help them discover.

Lake Taupo is the focus is several activities, including free fishing seminars on how to catch the lake's famous trout.

Native bush is a major component of the Tongariro conservancy, which includes the Kaimanawa Forest Park and the Tongariro Forest. Two trips get to the heart of the Kaimanawas with a flight into the remote Boyd airstrip on the park's eastern boundary, followed by a 15km hike down the forested Oamaru Valley to the headwaters of the Mohaka River.

A short helicopter flight takes participants back to a waiting bus. The cost for the trip, suitable for people 10 years and over, is $110 a person.

Also in the Kaimanawa Forest is a helihike - an $80-a-person helicopter flight up the Waipakihi Valley, returning on foot.

Other bush walks on the summer programme include a trip to the Tongariro Forest to introduce children to the sounds and shapes of the bush.

There are also activities with an environmental theme, including searching for the rare North Island kaka, and walks to the seldom-visited summits of Mt Pihanga and Mt Tihia.

Not part of the DoC programme but running daily throughout summer is a guided walk to the crater of Mt Ruapehu, run by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the skifield operator.

The trip involves riding the chairlifts to the Knoll Ridge Cafe, where you can lunch at the highest restaurant in New Zealand (2000m above sea level), followed by a 670m climb to the crater.

An alternative is a 1 1/2 hour walk downhill from Knoll Ridge to the top of the Bruce Rd.

Information panels at regular intervals along the way explain the geology and geographical features of the mountain. You need to book for most of the activities.

For further information on the Department of Conservation's Tongariro-Taupo summer programme ph (07) 892 3729, fax (07) 892 3814; or write to Summer Programme Bookings, Department of Conservation, Private Bag, Mt Ruapehu 2650.

* colinmoore@xtra.co.nz

Department of Conservation

Lake Taupo

Mt Ruapehu