Wide open adult view of Red Crater - Great walk Tongariro Crossing, NP Tongariro

Haha! yeah i saw that too!! !

Ich wußte gar nicht, dass es solche Vulkan-Felder in Neuseeland gibt. Natürlich habe ich von den Erdbeben in letzter Zeit gehört, aber solche Vulkane! Ein schönes und dramatisches Bild.

North NZ island is packed with volcanic features - hot springs, bioling pools, lakes, geysers, boiling mud, many active volcanos. This one is side volcan of Mt Ngauruhoe volcano. In Tongariro NP, there are 2 other main active volcanos: Mt Tongariro and Mt Ruapehu

Other remarkable volcano (not active, as far as I know) is Mt Taranaki.

Interesting, there were more serious earthquake in South Island recently, although there are no typical active volcanos in South Island.

Zealand is must-to-see country!

Cheers, Tom

Its a trap! Greetings Tony Sydney

Hi Tony, as Sydney citizen you have pretty chance to see this trap personally... :)

Tom

Wonderful view!
Greetings from Czernowitz in Ukraine, Edward

Yep Edward, I hope you enjoyed this kind of view :)

Tom

Incredible!

Yes David, ideed... I could not belive my eyes!

Hi Tomas, I haven't been in your gallery for a longer while... Now I have to catch up, I see you have some amazing New Zealand photos (like this one). I'd love to go there one day, if only the journey was not so expensive...

No problem Hubert, I am guilty the same way. Too much interesting things to see here, too much attention stealers, too much friends...

I can definitely recommend you the expedition to NZ! Flights are getting cheaper, as people have less money (so they are getting in fact too expensive for majority).

Hello again, thanks for your reply. For us New Zealand is probably one of the most remote places on earth, thus it makes it even more exciting.

How much time did you spent there? All the time by bicycle? Where have you been in NZ? Do you have any special places to recommend? (sorry for bothering you, but I really think that sooner rather than later I will go there so I'm really curious about your journey).

That's OK, Hubert. But it could be a long story... This is a country of my heart and I tend to speak a lot about it. ;-) I am writting the book about it at the moment.

Briefly:

I spent here 1.5 month (2006-7) + almost 2 months (2009). All time on bicycle, with exception of few tracks (walking) and paid trips (boat + coach criusing, helicopter, baloon).

Flight was about 51 000 Kč (2006), resp. 47 000 Kč (2009) - you can get it cheaper, these were late orders.

2009:

Bike rental: 4 100 Kč

Paid trips, entry + 2 nights on Kepler track: 12 600 Kč

Living costs: 30 600 Kč

2006 - 7:

Overall costs: 55 000 Kč (includes unexpected costs 18 500 Kč - two bike repairs, buying new camera when old one was on strike)

You can make it cheaper when hitch hiking (not commonly used practice), when avioding camps and paid attractions and eating cheapest food. But this is not the way how to enjoy it. :)

I have KMZ files with my track and comments about places I have visited, spread sheets with costs and daily tracks statistics... and also travel log (all in Czech - I think, you will undestand). Tavel log is in the Google Groups, but it is private - if you want to get access, I need to know your email used for your Google account (you must be looged in to get there). I can send you also other resources if you want.

See trip maps here: (and comments with links): http://www.panoramio.com/photo/30446937 http://www.panoramio.com/photo/28828733 http://www.panoramio.com/photo/30446943

Thank you Tomas! Wow, you are writing the book about NZ. Impressing, you must be real NZ enthusiast, thats for sure. What kind of book is this? A travel guide, a novel?

PS. I've sent you my e-mail via Private Message.

Yep, you shall have reply in email.

Book is something like the guide combined with personal experience, stories and with photos.

Anyway, making a trip to NZ is rewarding idea! :))

She's smoking hot!

Yep Quentin! Indeed smoking hot! ;-)

26 links are from search engines looking something "hot", 7 links looking for what is on the photo (geological or geographical feature). How can 3 words in title misbehave the search results... and photo popularity.

Enjoy Red crater! As it was rather cold weather there (and hails were to come), I used "her" hot lava slag to make my freezing hands warmer.

LOL ~ This cracks me up :)))))) A brilliant view and a marvelously misleading title ~ A double winner ~ love it

Hi Nick, I am glad you like it. ;-)