It’s not every day you get three volcanoes under your belt before your first flat white. Huka Lodge and Inflite Charters in Taupo, in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island, are offering a special “three volcanoes before breakfast” experience – in your own private helicopter.
Fly over mounts Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe (the latter was Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings), then set down at 1500 metres in Kaimanawa Forest Park for champagne and pastries fresh from Huka’s ovens.
The volcanoes are in the centre of NZ’s oldest national park, the World Heritage-listed Tongariro National Park, established in 1894.
“We’ve been doing tours over these volcanoes for years, but the idea is to move it forward," says Inflite's Toby Clark.
"So we get guests up in the air by 7.30am to make for an even more spectacular experience. It’s pretty special flying low over the red crater of Mount Ngauruhoe, seeing the hot lake atop Mount Ruapehu and the Te Maari crater on the flank of Mount Tongariro, which erupted in 2012.”
More active souls can tramp the famed 19.4-kilometre Tongariro Alpine Crossing between Ngauruhoe and Tongariro. “It’s a truly wonderful trek,” vouches Clark. “You can walk up Mt Ngauruhoe and all over the crater.”
On the return flight, keep your eyes peeled for the Maori rock carvings at Mine Bay and for Huka Falls, where 220,000 litres of water gush over the cliff every second – enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 11 seconds.
By 10am you’ll be back on the luxe lawns of Huka Lodge, ready for a Hobbit-style full “second breakfast”.
Junior suite at Huka Lodge with breakfast helicopter tour, five-course gourmet dinner and selected alcoholic beverages, from NZ$3741 ($3602) per person, per night for the month of April.
