Archive for the 'Ruapehu' Category

The Ruapehu Region

Posted by Ruth Atherley on April 24, 2013 at 8:25 am

We had the chance to hear from Visit Ruapehu, which represents the Ruapehu region in the Central North Island of New Zealand.

Ruapehu is a year-round destination – it has some of the Southern Hemisphere’s best skiing and snowboarding in winter/spring and some of New Zealand’s best hiking, biking and river-based activities in spring/autumn. (And of course, for the Northern Hemisphere readers – the seasons in New Zealand are opposite to the Northern Hemisphere.)

Ruapehu is home to two world-class national parks: Whanganui and the UNESCO Dual World Heritage Tongariro. Whanganui offers many river-based activities such as jet boat tours, as well as kayak adventures, which can go from one to five days. Ruapehu has New Zealand’s two largest ski areas along with the world-renowned Tongariro Alpine Crossing – widely recognized as New Zealand’s “best one-day walk.”

Bike tourism is also popular here – with two of the New Zealand Cycle Trail’s Great Rides – “Mountains to Sea” and “Timber Trail” – now completed and open for business.