Story: Natural environment

Tongariro (1,959 m high, in the foreground) is an ancient volcano which last erupted in 1926. Ngāuruhoe (2,291 m, centre), the youngest of the three central volcanoes, is about 5,000 years old and retains its distinct cone shape. It last erupted in the mid-1970s. Ruapehu is the southernmost of the three. At 2,797 m, it is also the highest mountain in the North Island, and erupted most recently, in 1995–96.