North Island Attractions

Venue: Mount Ruapehu and Tongariro National Park    When: Daily

Mount Ruapehu is familiar to more people than know it - it was used as Mount Doom in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The ultimate landmark of Middle Earth is in reality a still-active - and just as awe-inspiring - volcano. It smokes and bubbles in the centre of Tongariro National Park, an area of incredible natural beauty, a holy space for the Maoris and home to "the best one-day walk in the world".

New Zealand is one of the most geographically diverse countries in the world. Only kilometres from spectacular beaches you can find live volcanoes or glaciers. Mt Ruapehu has both - itself a volcano, seven glaciers crawl down its sides. Take a plane and the mountain and Mt Taranaki stand out from the skyline by a mile: the only snow-capped peaks on the island.

Mount Ruapehu is so holy to the Maoris that it was created a World Heritage Site for its outstanding cultural value - and Peter Jackson had to disguise it in The Lord of the Rings so it didn't look too obviously like the volcano (to film it literally was felt to be sacrilege, particularly when it was impersonating a peak of evil). The last time there was a major eruption was in 1995, but plumes of smoke are quite common.

The Tongariro Crossing is a summer must. Described as "the best one-day walk in the world", it takes you across some mind-bogglingly beautiful and dramatic volcanic landscape, ranging from verdant vegetation to craggy hillside. But beware, it's pretty long and fairly tough.

Skiing takes over in the winter, and the area is the island's leading resort - so long as Ruapehu is behaving itself.