The Tongariro Crossing is an alpine walk located in the center of New Zealand’s North Island. It is often considered one of the Top 10 one day walks in the world by the likes of National Geographic. While it is a hard walk, it takes in a variety of scenery. Starting at the foot of Mt Ngauruhoe or Mt Tongariro (depending from which side you start the walk) the landscape changes from tussock plains, to volcanic rock, and temperate rain forest. A large part of the walk gives the impression that you are walking on another planet with red and black volcanic rocks scattered around and a number of colorful craters with some emitting steam. The dominating landmark is Mt Ngauruhoe which featured as Mt Doom in Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’.
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This image was used by Television New Zealand as a backdrop during the weather on the 6 oclock news, (when there was snow in the forecast).
This image was also used in a calendar for Forest and Bird alongside photos from photographer Andres Apse and other well known New Zealand photographers.