Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in New Zealand, located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as one of the 25 mixed cultural and natural World Heritage Sites.
Tongariro National Park was the fourth National Park established in the world. The active volcanic mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro are located in the centre of the park.
There are a number of Māori religious sites within the park, such as one at the grave to Te Heuheu Herekeikei. The summits of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu are tapu (sacred).
Geography
Location
Tongariro National Park covers approximately 795.98 km² stretching between 175° 22' and 175° 48' East and 38° 58' and 39° 25' South in the heart of the North Island of New Zealand. It is 330 km south of Auckland by road, and 320 km north of Wellington. It is just a few kilometres west-southwest of Lake Taupo. It contains a considerable part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Directly to the east stand the hills of the Kaimanawa range. The Whanganui River through Whanganui National Park lies to the west.
Most of the park is located in the Ruapehu District (Manawatu-Wanganui Region), although the northeast is in the Taupo District (Waikato Region, or Hawke's Bay Region to the north).
Dimension
Tongariro National Park stretches around the massif of the three volcanoes Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro. The Pihanga Scenic Reserve, containing Lake Rotopounamu, Mount Pihanga and Mount Kakaramea, though outside the main park area, is part of the park.
On the park borders are the small towns of National Park Village and Ohakune. Further away are Turangi, Waiouru, and Raetihi. Within the park borders, the only settlements are the tourism-based village of Whakapapa and Iwikau Village, which is in a nearby ski-field and consists solely of ski accommodation. Tongariro National Park is surrounded by well-maintained roads that roughly follow the park borders and provide easy access. In the west, State Highway 4 passes National Park village, and in the east, State Highway 1, known for this stretch as the Desert Road, runs parallel to the Tongariro River. State Highway 47 joins these two highways to the north. The southern link is State Highway 49. The North Island Main Trunk railway from Auckland to Wellington passes National Park village.
Climate
Like the whole of New Zealand, Tongariro National Park is situated in a temperate zone. The prevailing westerly winds gather water over the Tasman Sea. As the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park are the first significant elevations that these winds encounter on the North Island, besides Mount Taranaki, rain falls almost daily. The east-west rainfall differences are not as great as in the Southern Alps, because the three volcanoes do not belong to a greater mountain range, and the wind simply funnels over the summits. At Whakapapa Village (1119m) the average annual rainfall is about 2200 mm, in Ohakune (610m) about 1250 mm and in higher altitudes, such as Iwikau Village (1770m), about 4900 mm. In winter there is snow to about 1500 m. Temperatures vary dramatically, even within one day. In Whakapapa, they can fall below the freezing point all year round. The average temperature is 13 °C, with a maximum of 25 °C in summer and a minimum of -10 °C in winter. In some summers the summits of the three volcanoes are covered with snow; on top of Mount Ruapehu, snow fields can be found every summer and the summit is glaciated.
History
The mountain summits are of great significance to the local Māori.
To prevent exploitation of the mountains by European settlers, Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku), the most significant chief of the Māori Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi (or clan), gifted the heart of the current national park, consisting of the peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and parts of Mount Ruapehu, to The Crown on September 23 , 1887 , on condition that a protected area was established there. This 26.4 km² area was generally considered to be too small to establish a national park after the model of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (USA), and so further areas were bought. When the New Zealand Parliament passed the Tongariro National Park Act in October 1894, the park covered an area of about 252.13 km², but it took until 1907 to acquire the land. When the Act was renewed in 1922, the park area was extended to 586.8 km². Further extensions, especially Pihanga Scenic Reserve in 1975, enlarged the park to its current size of 795.98 km². The last modification to the Act was passed in 1980. Tongariro National Park has been under the control of the New Zealand Department of Conservation since the creation of the department in 1987.
The first activities in the young Tongariro National Park were the construction of tourist huts at the beginning of the 20th century. But it was not before opening of the railway in 1908 and the building of roads in the 1930s that a significant number of people visited the park. The second Tongariro National Park Act, in 1922, started some active conservation efforts, but it was not until 1931 that the first permanent park ranger began work. Road construction into Whakapapa valley had already begun in the 1920s. The first ski hut was built in 1923 at an elevation of 1770 m, thereafter a road, and, in 1938, a ski lift in the area. This early tourist development explains the rather uncommon existence of a permanently inhabited village and fully developed ski area within a national park. The hotel Chateau Tongariro , which is still the centre of Whakapapa today, was established in 1929.
In the early 20th century, park administrators introduced heather to the park, for grouse hunting. Grouse were never actually introduced, but the heather is sprawling, threatening the ecological system and endemic plants of the park. Efforts are being made to control the plant's spread, however complete eradication seems unlikely.
Tongariro Power Scheme
Main article: Tongariro Power SchemeThe Tongariro Power Scheme was designed to preserve and protect the natural surroundings as much as possible. It gathers water from the mountains of the central volcanic plateau, passes it through Rangipo (120MW) and Tokaanu (240MW) power stations, and releases it into Lake Taupo. The scheme taps a catchment area of more than 2600 km² and uses a series of lakes, canals and tunnels to take water to the two stations which typically generate 1400 GWh pa,. about four percent of the country's total electricity generation.
The western diversion takes water from six rivers and streams from the Whakapapa River to the Whanganui River, into Lake Rotoaira via Lake Otamangakau. The Tokaanu power station is connected to Lake Rotoaira via a six kilometre tunnel through Mount Tihia. It also draws water from the Tongariro River via the Poutu tunnel and canal.
On the eastern side of Mount Ruapehu, water is diverted from the Kaimanawa Ranges and headwaters of the Wahianoa River through a 20 km tunnel into the Rangipo dam. The 120MW Rangipo power station is 230 m below ground. Its turbines are located in a cavern cut from solid rock and lined with concrete. Genesis Energy has developed mitigation measures with stakeholders that aim to lessen the environmental effects of the Tongariro Power Scheme.
Some of these measures include lake level management, ecological monitoring programmes, and agreements with local iwi to establish a process for iwi involvement in environmental monitoring and access to information. The electricity generated at the Tongariro Power Scheme goes into the national grid. Then it is distributed to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout New Zealand.
Geology
The volcanoes Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu are the southern end of a 2500 km long range of volcanoes, below which the Indo-Australian Plate meets the Pacific Plate.These volcanoes have resulted from internal tectonic processes. The Pacific Plate subducts under the Indo-Australian plate, and subsequently melts due to the high temperatures of the aesthenosphere. This magma being less dense, rises to the surface and goes through the weak parts of the Earth's crust(the faults) resulting in volcanic processes in the area. Volcanic processes have been causing the uplift of the mountains of Tongariro National Park for over two million years.
Biology
Flora
The Tongariro National Park is a rough and partly unstable environment. To the north and west of the park, a podocarp-broadleaf rain forest near Lake Taupo stretches over an area of 30 km², and up to an elevation of 1000 m. In this rain forest live Hall's totara ( Podocarpus hallii ), kahikatea ( Dacrycarpus dacrydioides
RingCentral Internet Fax Plans and Pricing
Get secure, affordable and convenient Internet fax from RingCentral, the industry leader in hosted phone services.
Toll Free Numbers, Virtual PBX, Business Phone Service - Virtual ...
Get your toll free number from the Industry leader in hosted phone services. Virtual PBX, hosted voice mail, internet fax features included!
service.ringcentral.com
Fax via Internet - Virtual Fax
Fax Service by RingCentral - Virtual Fax ... RingCentral Fax has the most advanced fax features available anywhere at no extra charge.
Ring Central Fax,rcenterrll.exe
Ring Central Fax rcenterrll.exe Only needed if you want a PC to answer faxes automatically
Ring Central Fax Review
Ring Central provides Internet Fax along with several other They provide phone service for small business as well.
Ring Central Review | INTERNET FAX REVIEW
INTERNET FAX REVIEW Comparing the top internet fax services side by side
Electronic Fax
With RingCentral, you'll be sending and receiving electronic fax documents in no time. Since there's no fax machine required for electronic fax service, you'll avoid the high cost ...
RingCentral Fax Features
Fax Service Features - Virtual Fax for Small Business
Internet Fax
Internet Fax Service - send Fax via Internet ... Send and receive Internet fax documents-no fax machine required! Loaded with fax management tools, RingCentral Internet fax lets ...