Again the ‘curse’ of having too much to do strikes in the form of about 2 blog posts in a month. You think each day that tomorrow you’ll finally find the time to update some photos and words on what’s been happening, but tomorrow never comes because something else, be it an awesome walking trail, twisty bendy road or some new friends come along to fill in the time. Really it’s a great situation but does make for painfully slow blogging, this one covers a walk across the Tongariro Crossing which it the time was the latest in a series of awesome days out which already feels as if it happened years ago.
With that waffley introduction, you'd be forgiven for thinking that what I'm thinking of typing is going to be in some way interesting or profound. In this case, you'd be wrong.
Having met a CouchSurfer in Auckland who’d mentioned if I liked walking there was a big organised even on covering the Tongariro Crossing, one of the North Island’s best one day hikes. The walk itself is a 7 hour 19.4km one day version of a larger two day trek around the national park, however as it takes in all the best views and experiences, it really seemed the best option, especially for the chance to walk in a group meaning there would be no real navigation problems and a life to the start and finish (its a straight line walk, not a circular).
Waking up at 5.30am on a cold morning in a small tent after a chilly nights sleep is never easy, but the sound of a French guy playing his trumpet (an agreed on insurance policy to get everyone up) got the day started. The usual assortment of back-packers and travellers we’d assembled slowly got round to organising who was going where in each car.
Outside was an apology of a shower, but it could develop into something spectacular (that's the weather, by the way, not my life). Risking it would blow over I only took a fleece and some food and drink for the day, as it turned out a fiercely icy wind meant everyone was glad for every layer of clothing they’d taken.
We arrived at the start of the track first and were meant to wait for the rest of the group, but it was so icy cold (the ground was frozen solid) and as most people prefer walking in smaller groups than big ones, we set off regardless to traverse the stark and spectacular volcanic terrain of Mt Tongariro.
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| View from the car park on arrival - morning mist |
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| Start of the walk - information shelter |
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| Icy ground cover |
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| Icy ground cover |
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| Icy ground cover |
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| Sun rising beind Mt. Tongariro |
Tongariro National Park is New Zealand’s oldest national park and a World Heritage area. Among its highlights are steaming vents and hot springs, old lava flows, beautiful water filled explosion craters and stunning views.
Walking starts across a long low plateau of volcanic rocks, at times with a wooden platform set above to preserve the rocks below from being trampled to bits underfoot. Crossing a couple of distinct lava flows brings you to a bowl at the bottom of Mt. Tongariro, recognisable as the real-life Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, though you can also see there was a lot of CGI add ons!
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| Mt. Tongariro and the Devil's Staircase |
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| Me infront of Mt. Tongariro (Mount Doom! |
From here you climb the 400m Devil’s Staircase which isn’t actually all that bad, so named because of the amount of false summits, you keep thinking you’re at the top then another set of steps come into view. All the effort is worth it though to walk across the South Crater, a huge flat expanse (not actually a volcanic crater despite its name) which is covered with steam from the intense heat so close to the surface. A strong smell of sulphur and rocks that are warm to the touch despite an icy wind tells you volcanic activity is still on the go here.
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| Walking on past the top of Devil's Staircase |
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| Walking across the crater through steam |
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| Steam coming up through the crater |
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| Me walking across the crater |
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| Steam erupts as people walk through it |
We kept walking as stopping meant the wind chill increased, meaning a fairly rapid climb up the Red Crater to the highest point of the trail flew bye. Your reward for reaching the top is a spectacular view across the central plains of New Zealand incuding emerald coloured pools across to the Blue Lake.
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| walking up to the Red Crater |
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| Mordor! |
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| Mt. Taranaki |
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| Walking down scree to the Emerald Lakes |
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| Emerald Lakes |
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| Emerald Lakes |
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| Emerald Lakes |
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| Emerald Lakes |
Being half way around, everyone takes lunch here after a fun 100m or so descending down a steep scree slope. The water is crystal clear but not drinkable due to an incredibly high mineral content.
After passing the emerald and blue pools, it’s pretty much downhill all the way an a very long and very gradual walk to the finishing point. We were well ahead of the main group so found a comfy hollow out of the wind and sat for a couple of hours enjoying cookies and views out to Lake Taupo until the main body of walkers began to catch up – we all thought the time would be better spent enjoying the view here than in the car park at the bottom.
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| Walking with the Red Crater behind |
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| Red Crater |
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| Descending on a well laid track |
After passing through a wooded section for the last 5 or so km, you end up in a car park about 30 minutes drive from the start car park. With volunteers sorting out relay’s to collect each other’s cars from where they were left, we eventually landed back at the campsite at about 7pm, a 12 hour day with some excellent walking and plenty of time for sprawling out and relaxing too.
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| Chilling out enjoying the view |
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| Descending down to the car park |
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| End of the walk waiting for a lift |
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| Back at the campsite |
The campsite we were staying at held about 40 of the group and let us use the main kitchens and dining hall which was enough for twice the amount of people. Staying only that night, I needed to keep moving and start heading towards the south island, taking the west coast road through New Plymouth to Wellington.
