I'm dealing with my usual problem of many photos, many stories, and ephemera, how to get it all in, and done before the next trip. I crammed a lot on these pages but think I captured the feeling of the wonderful Chateau Tongariro.

Anna Aspnes Supplies:
ArtPlay Palette Traveler
Spring Template Album (frames, word art, edge)
Multimedia Branches 1
Button Threadz 2
APP Oasis (buttons)
Multimedia Flowers 2

Text:

OK, so it was not the Grand
Budapest, but it felt like it. An
institution of old world elegance dating from 1929, and pretty much the only game in town in Tongariro National Park. We loved the dining room, the food was better than
expected and the service superb. Remember the movie theather down in the basement, where there was also that weird pool just like in the Grand Budapest? We later heard that LOTR clips were reviewed in that little theater during filming.

In the time we were there, I dont think we ever got a completely clear view of all three peaks, Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and Ruapehu (the site of New Zealands Great Crossing), but still the landscape was unique and spectacular, the rolling scrublands punctuated by volcanic peaks criss-crossed with creeks and waterfalls. I loved all the pretty purple heather blooming in the fields and was dismayed to find that Calluna vulgaris, introduced in 1912, is considered invasive and attempts are being made to control it with the introduction of a heather beetle.