The Chateau Tongariro Hotel first opened for business in
1929 to encourage tourists and the skiing fraternity to visit Tongariro
National Park.
For myself, the place has always held out the allure of
mystery and luxury – a place well beyond my means to ever visit – so I was
thrilled when daughter said she would treat me to a stay here.
At nearly 100 years old the hotel is showing signs of age,
but effort has been made to keep the décor very close to what it was when it
opened.
There is even 1930s music being broadcast through the public
areas (I listened to one song speaking about an attractive girl the singer
might have fancied, only she was wearing an odd pair of socks!!).
I spent some of my time sitting in the Ruapehu Lounge,
people-watching and writing in my journal.
The weather was very erratic during our three-day visit. We had misty rain, low cloud, a thunderstorm,
and bright sunny weather.
Often the mountains were buried beneath thick cloud, so I was
thrilled the first evening to be able to see Mount Ruapehu sitting up behind
the Chateau in all her glory.
Mount Ngauruhoe sits off to a different side of the hotel,
and this was a view of her from the hotel portico on the morning we left.
The beauty of these mountains is mingled with danger as this
whole area is classed as actively volcanic.
Mount Ruapehu, for instance, last erupted in 2007, while Ngauruhoe has
been relatively quiet since the mid-1970s.
The most recent eruption came from Mount Tongariro itself,
in 2012 (seen at the back on the left side of this photo).
The danger never seems to stop anyone visiting the region,
usually for enjoying the ski-fields or tramping one of the many trails to be
found in this area.
I enjoyed fulfilling a long-held desire and simply loved being
at the Chateau and seeing the mountains.
Margaret 😊
