It would be an under­state­ment if I say Mount Tarana­ki is one of the most per­fect­ly coned moun­tains you will ever see. Because, trust me, I felt like it was exact­ly how we drew pic­tures of moun­tains when we were lit­tle. Built as a result of vol­canic erup­tions god knows when, yes it’s that old, it has not erupt­ed since 1775. But, vol­ca­nol­o­gists still term it as dor­mant rather than “extinct.” This moun­tain has earned the rep­u­ta­tion of the most climbed moun­tain in New Zealand. If you’re not the adven­tur­ous type, you can take a leisure­ly stroll through the canopy of fairy­tale forests, water­falls and mossy swamps.