We were quite happy to stay at The Extreme Backpackers and found this BBH hostel to be top-notch. After transport to and from the park was arranged we also sorted out what gear we'd be taking with us on this trek. The weather at the Tongariro National Park, especially this time of year, is very dramatic and changeable. One must be prepared with all-weather clothing.

What I brought/wore:

1 backpack
Pack of Panadol (like Aspirin)
2 litres of water
water-proof over-trousers
raincoat
sweatshirt
wool hat / baseball cap
mittens
sunscreen
lunch
hiking boots
hand sanitizer
toilet paper
cell phone
blistex
camera
sunglasses

We woke up Monday morning at 5:45 am. Shower, dress, eat, stumble out to the bus. AH yes, it's a PERFECT day. Good thing too, I think Nynke would have been extremely disappointed as this was her 3rd attempt at doing the crossing. The first two times the crossing was cancelled due to in-climate weather.

The bus ride took around 30 minutes and finally we found ourselves at the park around 8:30am.

Now, when I think of the words, "National Park", I generally think of trees and streams, and rocks and dirt. However I arrived to discover that we were about to climb an ACTIVE VOLCANO

Just to give you some sense of scale - see those itty bitty little specs that look like ants on the path? They're people. We walked across that, and similar distances, many times. :)

The Tongariro Crossing is 17km one way. It is estimated to take between 6-7 hours at a brisk hike to complete, with an additional 2-hour allowance for sightseeing and breaks.

As my brochure states:

The Tongariro Crossing starts as a gentle gradient up the Mangatepopo Valley to a steep (this should have said REALLY STEEP!) climb to the saddle between the active Volcanoes of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe, across South Crater and finally climbing up to Red Crater, the highest point (1886m) on the track. Then descending down to the Emerald Lakes ( a group of water filled explosion craters) over Central Crater to the Blue Lake (an old vent) sidling around North Crater past the Ketetahi Hut and the Ketetahi Hot Springs down through the native forest.

The temperatures range from 3 to 35 degrees in the summer and -5 to 10 degrees in the winter. Unfortunately there is no coffee shop when you FINALLY get to the top and it is bloody hard work. It took us 9 hours to complete. The ascent was at a 35 degree angle and since we were climbing over a volcano, much of the surface was loose rock that would just crumble away when we stepped on it. The views from the top were really interesting. Obviously they were beautiful since craters are just not something you see every day. However I must say that the volcano my parents and I climbed in Costa Rica was much more impressive. Shh - don't tell the Kiwis!

It was HOT and sunny the whole time, although when I did get to the top I put on some mittens, as the breeze was quite cool.

I was worried that my feet would act up on me, but it turns out I was worried about the wrong body part. The 4 hour decent was nothing short of a nightmare as my right knee was totally buggered from the climb up. Every time I bent it was agony, and it was a very slow, hot,long trip down for us with frequent rests.

The terrain on the way down was really challenging. First you must slide down the side of the volcano - there is no other way to do it, foot holds simply do not exist and trying to walk down all this loose rock would be futile. But you must be careful of falling (which is inevitable, I ended up on my backside twice however you just hope you don't burst into an uncontrolled tumble that hurls you off the side of the mountain). Also breaking the skin in the form of a cut or scrape could lead to major infection from all the minerals in the soil. :)

Next comes trekking across what looks like desert, save for some patches of SNOW, next to bushes that resemble tumbleweed. It is all very bizarre and wonderful. Then we went through hills with very steep drops (no guardrails - they feel it would interfere with the natural beauty of the park. I supposed my mangled body would be fairly easy to remove from the bottom of the mountain and thus would be less of an eyesore than the guardrails).

And finally we went down through the forest with gorgeous waterfalls and streams, out to the waiting bus. That night we drove to Taupo, had a soak in the hot tub and nursed our bruised and blistered feet. By the next day my knee was feeling a little better and we met up with my lovely friend Dee and his friend Al.

The Return Trip

Dee decided to come back to Wellington with us and that night we met up with the Kiwi elf who's not actually Kiwi, Mariska. Mariska, who is from Holland but living in NZ and working as a cardiac nurse, and I really hit it off in Fiji. She is the reason I know Desmond and all the other Kiwi elves. She and her friend Chris were in Nelson for New Years and just passing through Wellington on their way back up to Auckland. It was so lovely to catch up with her again. What a busy week!

Wednesday was back to work. Dee and I met that evening for dinner and some TV watching and finally we had to say goodbye. It was SO SAD as he is now leaving the country to go to South America on Jan 17th. As he left he said, "See you on a different continent!" HAHA! Indeed!

So, the conclusion is - the road-trip was fantastic. I think the two of us logged around around 22 hours in the car and travelled around 1700 km.

I feel like I can now leave the North Island, which I've decided I am going to do on Jan 15th. The job that's available here at Meridian is covering a 12-month long mat leave, which just isn't something I am interested in. So, I've booked my 3 hour ferry across the Cook Strait to get to the South Island where I'll be landing in Picton. I don't believe I'll be returning to Wellington. It's a bitter-sweet parting. I am so happy to be moving on but the feeling that a chapter of my life is coming to an inevitable close always makes my stomach do a little flip.