An Australian man has been airlifted off Mount Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park after being hit by a falling boulder.
The pilot of the Youthtown Rescue Helicopter service in Taupo, Nat Every, says the man, in his late 20s, was part of a group climbing the mountain on Saturday morning.
One of them noticed a boulder rolling down towards them - but the man was unable to get out of the way, and suffered a significant lower leg fracture.
Mr Every says there was a similar incident on Mount Ruapehu a month or so ago, where a man was badly injured by a falling rock.
