Mount Tongariro's eruption dominates the morning newspapers. Scientists predict more eruptions - not just at Tongariro, but at Mt Ruapehu as well.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald leads with a full page picture of the eruption on Wednesday with the headline '1.29 on the Tongariro crossing'. A school group is pictured watching as an ash cloud billowed into the sky.
Waikato Times
The Waikato Times reports the eruption took scientists by surprise, and they warn the danger is not over yet.
As thousands prepare to descend on the region this weekend for the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, scientists are predicting more eruptions to come - and not just at Tongariro but at neighbouring Mt Ruapehu as well.
The front page also carries an interview with international rugby coach Warren Gatland, on how he sustained two broken heels in a freak accident earlier this year.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post also carries a warning of more eruptions to come on the central plateau. English tourist Angie Glanvill is pictured quickly descending the Tongariro Crossing track away from the eruption.
Angie and her husband Peter estimated they were only about 200 metres away when it started. She told the paper "it was the icing on the cake" for the couple, as they had never been as close to anything like it.
The paper also reports motorists may still have to pay a toll to use Transmission Gully, after the Transport Agency was granted permission to pursue a public-private partnership for the $1.3 billion, 27km, four-lane road.
The Press
The Press reports on the sacking of Christchurch Girls' High principal Prue Taylor. An Employment Relations Authority hearing heard Mrs Taylor was forced out by a ''witch-hunt'' by a board that tried to suspend her only days after her husband died in the Canterbury Television building. On Wednesday, Ms Taylor and her lawyer Richard Harrison appeared before the ERA in a attempt to get her job back in the interim.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times leads with reported instances of harm in Southern District Health Board hospitals down by 25%, a sign its hospitals have become safer, the board says.
And the University of Otago could be prevented from building on a $5.5 million piece of land it bought in Christchurch, as the Government intends to buy the site for part of the rebuilding after last year's earthquakes.
