It is a wonderful experience on a fine, clear day to stand on top of Mt Ruapehu (9175') and look across the cloud on the plains to the near perfect cone of Mt Taranaki (8260') on the skyline to the south west. One of those unforgettable sights!

Mt Taranaki, an almost perfect andesite cone, has not erupted for about 300 years, and is believed to be dormant rather than extinct. Taranaki and two smaller adjacent volcanes to the northwest form a volcanic chain which is thought to have been active for about a million years.

The mountain is ringed by an almost perfect circular 83,000 acre National Park and along the ringroad it is possible to drive through a tall "shrubbery" of the luxuriant rainforest type, feeling as if the road has been carved through the thick forest with a scrubcutter, so closely do the understory plants seem to crowd the road. This is something rare even in New Zealand these days.

Acrylic Sketch on Art paper.