Mount Taranaki: Veronica Loop

It's been another lovely week in Taranaki (the region we live in now, and the most beautiful place ever). 

Last weekend, as I mentioned, J and I went hiking. We drove 20 minutes to the Visitor's Centre of Mount Taranaki, then headed up the mountain. The peak of Mount Taranaki is 2518m, which I find very impressive, considering its proximity to the ocean.

We walked the Veronica Loop, which is just a couple hours, up one bit and then down another. It wasn't too challenging, although it was quite intensely uphill for most of it. We just took our time and enjoyed it, which was lovely.

There's not too much to say about each picture, so just enjoy them!

This one is first because it's my favourite!

This is the view of Mount Ruapehu, which is in Tongariro National Park, near Whanganui, where J and I went hiking last year.

There is often significantly more snow up there than that, but it's been quite a warm winter so far.

You can see Ruapehu in the background if you really look and know it's there.

This is the closest we got to the top - not particularly close, actually, but that's okay.

We had a lovely hike, and were glad to have explored the mountain we see every day. I really want to go back and hike all the way up to the top, and Anna and Ollie want to do it, too, so hopefully we can do it together. It is highly recommended to do it during the summer, though. Apparently, a lot of people have died on Mount Taranaki due to sudden storms especially, so I will definitely be waiting for summer.