Volcano hat trick

Having scaled both Mt Ngaurahoe and Mt Ruapehu with mum, I figured a gorgeous, crisp day off could be best spent nabbing the third one, Mt Tongariro.

It's a great walk, mainly a repeat of the first half of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing then branching off to the top of Tongariro. I set off a bit later in the morning to avoid the Tongariro Crossing rush hour and had the place practically to myself (or so it felt). Just brilliant.

So that's it, I've climbed all three and there are no major peaks left on the North Island for me to 'conquer'.

Well, that's not strictly true. It would be good to climb Mt Taranaki so I'd have ticketd off the four volcanoes I can see from this house. However, after the ordeal that was Ngaurahoe - on which I saw for the first time my mum throw a tantrum, albeit a very very brief one - and having been assured Taranaki is a very similar experience, I'm quite content to let it remain the pretty Mt Fuji lookalike in the distance.