It just gets better and better here! We set off from Lake Taupo about 930 after a lovely Facetime call with Lu. It's great to be able to keep in touch so often while we are not at sea. The drive to the Tongariro National Park is about 1 hour 15 minutes from Taupo and a lovely drive along the lakeside for a while and then up through forests as the road starts to climb in altitude. We passed another lake along the way and plenty of streams and rivers. This is just the most gorgeous area. Somewhat like Lake Tahoe in California but very much less developed and with the strange volcanic flavour of the mountains which is different to the more normal alpine look.

I had an 11am flight booked with Mountain Air who run a variety of charter and explorers trips around the National Park. I had booked their Volcanic Explorers flight which is about 40 minutes and flies at 10,000 feet around the three volcanoes including the active crater of Mount Ruapehu and various Lord of the Rings sites like Mount Ngauruhoe, which featured as Mount Doom.

It was a very small plane, just three passenger seats and I was flying with a Canadian couple so I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat which was very cool. I did feel a bit nervous beforehand but I wanted to do this trip from the moment we conceived coming to North Island so was very determined. In all honesty, it was incredibly smooth, no bumps or drops or anything unpleasant at all. Take off and landing along a little grass runway was hardly noticed. I was very concerned with my camera which probably helped and I averted my eyes when we banked for turns but honestly…… if you ever get to this place DO THE FLIGHT!!! It was unbelievable and the vistas were just mindblowing. To see right into the three craters - all so different - and the alpine lakes along the ridge was so beautiful. I could never hike up there… well… in fact, hardly anyone can reach the rim of Mt. Ngaurohoe because it is pretty vertical and shaly. It is a perfect Mount Doom. All that sliding around Frodo and Sam did is very accurate LOL. You cannot take your eyes off it, so very compelling. Very dark in colour and a perfect steep cone with just the top missing (Peter Jackson put it back on in the film). Actually, at the top there are red streaks which are even more sinister in appearance. The photos show them.

There is permanent snow on Mt Ruapehu (2797m) and it is the main site for winter sports in North Island and the largest area in New Zealand. The whole area is a ski resort in the winter months. We flew around and over it. There is an alpine lake at the summit in the crater. The third volcano Mount Tongariro, is actually smoking from one of the cones at the moment - all three are still active and occasionally erupt. Anyway, it was just a fantastic experience and one that I will long remember. I took loads of photographs and they tell the story better than I can. Will try and get the photos up tonight if the connection will stand it.

Bob (who hates flying) was waiting with a big hug and a smile when we landed. I wished that he had seen it all too. We drove up through the national park past the Chateau hotel (dead ringer for the Overlook in the Shining) to the base station for the ski lifts. They still run some of them in the summer to go up Mt. Ruapehu to the station at the top which has the highest café in New Zealand!!! Well… we had to try that. Got two tickets. I was not old enough for a Seniors ticket (damn) but Bob got one so not too bad at £20 roundtrip for two. It covered two chairlifts to get to the top. The terrain is incredibly rocky and covered in massive boulders. We couldn't work out where you could ski but no doubt it is all buried under metres of snow in the winter. We negotiated the two chair lifts without mishap giggling as we remembered how truly hopeless we were at them on our one long ago skiing holiday when we always immediately fell over on disembarkation causing chaos in all the chairs behind us.

Obviously stunning views in all directions at the top and we had a light lunch in the aforementioned café. There were several ski lodges up there and side chair lifts which must service them. No hotels or anything like that up there. Must be utterly spectacular in the winter. What an amazing area. Huge lakes for summer sports and just an hour away this huge and fabulous ski area. Not to mention hiking (or tramping as it is amusingly known here!! As in "are you going for a tramp?" and other hilarious derivatives which you can work out…..). There are loads of trails all over the park and we wanted to do one up at the top. There was a 2.5 hour one we quite fancied but when we saw how crumbly and shaly the terrain was up there we decided wisely that we were not properly equipped to do it as we did not have hiking boots with us, just trainers. So instead, we did a short one at the base ski station level to a ridge overlooking a sheer drop with Mount Doom beyond that was used extensively in the films. It is very recognisable as the location where Frodo and Sam look down into Mordor and have Gollum scrambling around behind them, following them. Also the ridge is where when covered with snow, you see the whole company in an aerial shot sort of hiking along…. Anyway, it was a good little hike and the views rewarded us. No one else up there.

Drove down to our hotel which is in the National Park Village about 10km from the ski station. A quirky set of cabins called the Adventure Lodge and Motel. All very welcoming and comfortable. Had a cup of tea and a bit of a rest and then headed back into the park and did a short hike to the Tawhai Falls. Excellent track with lookouts along the way and wooden stairs at the end down to the river at the base of the falls. The falls themselves are about 13m high falling into a pool surrounded by a cove of cliffs. A lovely spot. We clambered across rocks at the end to sit closer to the falls pool. Some of the rocks are vaguely troll shaped!!!

Spent a most pleasant time there and then drove back to the National Park village for dinner at the Station Restaurant. What an interesting place! Fine dining on the still active trunk line linking Tongariro to Auckland. There is only one train per day. The restaurant is in what was the old station building and the food was FAB-U-LOUS. Easily the best meal we've had in ages. They had an a la carte menu but being Sunday were offering a 3 course dinner for $55 (about £22). I couldn't manage it so just had the roast main course for £9. All the food was amazing and very generous portions. The wine was excellent also J. Worth flying 23 hours to come back to.

Bed now in our little cottage ready for our last full day in North Island tomorrow and Bob's 66th Birthday.