North Island Volcanic Plateau in the context of "Pacific Ring of Fire"

A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus.

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, near the centre of the water hemisphere. It consists of a large number of islands, estimated around 700, mainly remnants of a larger landmass now beneath the sea. The land masses by size are the South Island (Te Waipounamu) and the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui), separated by the Cook Strait. The third-largest is Stewart Island (Rakiura), located 30 kilometres (19 miles) off the tip of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Other islands are significantly smaller in area. The three largest islands stretch 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) across latitudes 35° to 47° south. New Zealand is the sixth-largest island country in the world, with a land size of 268,680 km (103,740 sq mi).

New Zealand's landscapes range from the fiord-like sounds of the southwest to the sandy beaches of the subtropical Far North. The South Island is dominated by the Southern Alps while a volcanic plateau covers much of the central North Island. Temperatures commonly fall below 0 °C (32 °F) and rise above 30 °C (86 °F) then conditions vary from wet and cold on the South Island's west coast to dry and continental a short distance away across the mountains and to the tundra like climate in the Deep South of Southland.

Te Onetapu (Māori: [tɛˌɔnɛˈtaˌpʉ]), commonly known as the Rangipo Desert (Māori: [ˌɾaŋiˌpɔː]), is a barren desert-like environment located in New Zealand, located in the Ruapehu District on the North Island Volcanic Plateau; to the east of the three active peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Ruapehu, and to the west of the Kaimanawa Range.

Mount Ruapehu (Māori: [ˈɾʉaˌpɛhʉ]; English /ˈruːəˌpeɪhuː/) is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and North Island volcanic plateau in New Zealand. It is 23 km (14 mi) northeast of Ohakune and 23 km (14 mi) southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupō, within Tongariro National Park. The North Island's major ski resorts and only glaciers are on its slopes.

Ruapehu, the largest active volcano in New Zealand, has the highest point in the North Island and has three major peaks: Tahurangi (2,797 m), Te Heuheu (2,755 m) and Paretetaitonga (2,751 m). The deep, active crater is between the peaks and fills with water between major eruptions, being known as Crater Lake (Māori: Te Wai ā-moe). The name Ruapehu means "pit of noise" or "exploding pit" in Māori.

The Kaimanawa Range, officially called the Kaimanawa Mountains since 16 July 2020, is a range of mountains in the central North Island of New Zealand. They extend for 50 kilometres in a northeast–southwest direction through largely uninhabited country to the south of Lake Taupō, east of the "Desert Road". Their slopes form part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau.

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "breath for food" for Kaimanawa.