Mount Tongariro New Zealand
Mount Tongariro New Zealand
New Zealand has a truly Sacred Mountain and it is called Mount Tongariro. Fifteen hundred years ago, the people of the Maori tribe in New Zealand lit a fire at the top of their favourite mountain, Mt Tongariro, and it then was designated for all time as their sacred mountain. The Tuwharetoa tribe of the Maoris still live near the mountain until now. Their tribal chief, Tukino Te Heuheu, gave the sacred mountain to the New Zealand government in 1887 under the proviso that the area and the mountain should become a National Park for the people of New Zealand. At this present point in time, the National Park has become a well-visited tourist spot and attracts visitors from all over the world.
The last time that the sacred mountain erupted, the amount of ash from the erupting volcano was such that the skies darkened and the sun was red as blood. In 1818 a shepherd was found dead with an eye torn from his socket in a hut in the mountains. A father disapproved of him loving his daughter and killed him and the daughter followed the lover to her death in the white waters of the raging river. To promote tourism the tourism board built a chateau with its own resident ghost called Charlie. It became a chateau for returned soldiers. It is now a hotel.
A few have actually seen the kiwi and is related to the emu and the ostrich. It is flightless and has many predators like cats and foxes. The kiwis are bred in captivity and released into the wild. The Maoris have protected their mountains by giving them away to become national parks so that they are not developed or exploited and the natural environment is lost for all time.