BootsnAll Travel Network



Tongariro

img_4714.JPG

The following day saw us on the bus bound for a small village called National Park. Our intention was to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit, a 3 day walk through a volcanic area. The bus journey was the usual tortuous one but we finally arrived at the hostel after about 6 hours. We had a brilliant room which we accessed through the climbing wall at the hostel. After booking onto the shuttle bus to get us to the start of the walk we hired some harnesses and shoes and did a spot of climbing – until a huge group of boys (scouts, I think, arrived) and we decided to have dinner.
We were up at about 6.15 the following morning to get the shuttle bus, which was full of people doing the Tongariro Crossing. It is billed as the best day hike in NZ, with some justification we felt. The first day of our walk took in most of the Crossing and the trail was quite crowded. It was quite a cold, cloudy day but the walk was very enjoyable all the same and was in stark contrast to most of our other walks in NZ as there weren’t any trees.
The initial part of the walk is fairly easy and then it gets quite steep up to a saddle between two volcanoes, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngau….hoe (sorry, will have to look up the spelling of this!). In the distance we could see the slopes of Mt Ruapeho which had seen some activity recently we were told. We then crossed a crater: the landscape was very similar to that which I had experienced in Iceland last year. Then up another steep ridge, by which time we were about half way. From there we decided to climb to the top of Mt Tongariro. The path went up a ridge into the clouds and by this time it was quite windy and had started to rain – home from home! We made it to the top but had no views at all. So we came back down again! Continuing on with the trail we went passed Red Crater and then steeply down to Emerald Lakes, a group of brilliant blue lakes looming out of the mist. There were lots of vents with steam issuing forth from them in the area. We had lunch there and then carried on in poor visibility across another crater until the path began to zig-zag down the hill to our first nights accommodation at Ketetahi Hut. At first we had it our ourselves but then a group of boys from Aukland doing their Duke of Edinburgh turned up – it’s so English here it’s just not true. We had a pleasant evening in the hut and the clouds even parted to give us views of Lake Taupo in the distance.
The next morning we waited until the boys had gone – I’m still not sure why all Kiwi’s feel obliged to get up at 5.30am when they are staying in huts. We made our way back to Emerald Lakes and the clouds were blowing in and out giving nice views along the way – more than we had seen yesterday anyway. There was nobody else at the lakes which was nice so we got some better photos. Then we branched off downhill to a lunar landscape of wierd rock formations. The weather had improved by then and we reached another hut in time for elevenses. They have a great snack here called One Square Meal which I haven’t seen at home. It is supposed to provide you with one third of everything you need each day so is good for lunch (but supplemented by other things, of course!). We continued on through undulating volcanic territory and then descended through beech woods to a river where we stopped for lunch. Then off again up and over one last ridge to the next hut (Waihohonu). Again we shared it with another D of E party who kept on rearranging the furniture and making a huge noise. But they finally gave up and went to bed.
It rained in the night and we set off on our last day through grass and scrub that was very wet indeed. In no time at all our trousers were soaked so I resorted to shorts while Katie took here trousers off and just wore her waterproof trousers. After about 3 hours there was another side trip to see some more lakes which took about an hour. Then the last lap took us another couple of hours and went past a nice waterfall before we ended up in a village called Whakappapa. I had been having the tea shop fantasy for a few hours so we had a pot a tea and a scone before catching the shuttle bus back to the hostel. It was, we both agreed, an excellent walk: it is one of the Great Walks in NZ.
The next day we travelled on Rotorua, after first having another go on the climbing wall. It would have taken about 2 hours by car but the bus took more like 5 hours. But it was a nice scenic trip and as we arrived so late we went out for a pub meal. No time left on computer – more later!

Tags: ,



2 Responses to “Tongariro”

  1. Linda Bellini Says:

    Hi Ann and Katie,
    Many thanks for sharing your great records of your travels over the past months, I have enjoyed them very much and cant wait to see the photos.
    We hope you have a very happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you on your return in 2008 Ann.
    Love Linda

  2. admin Says:

    Hi Linda
    Thanks for your message. Have a good Christmas.
    Ann

  3. Posted from New Zealand New Zealand

Leave a Reply