The Tongariro Crossing

Location: Taupo Cybercafe
Weather: Cloudy and not that warm

Tuesday - Got up at 5:15am and caught the bus to Mangetepopo hut in Tongariro National Park, to do the famous Tongariro Crossing. I went with my friend Anke, her friend Kate(from Germany) and met an English dude called Simon on the way.
Legend has it that the Tongariro Crossing is the best 1 day walk you can do in New Zealand...and...I have to admit this is probably true!! You walk past lava flows, volcanic craters, hot springs and forest.
We were very lucky, as it was truly an incredible day, it had snowed the night before, but the sky was quite clear and it was almost windless(very rare apparently). The scenary along the way, mainly the 3 volcanoes - Mt Ruapehu (last erupted 1996), Mt Tongariro,Mt Ngauruhoe - is probably the best I have ever seen anywhere including the Grand Canyon, Blue Mountains and Overland Trek. It is no wonder they filmed Lord of the Rings around there. I especially found the ice/snow covered Mt Ngauruhoe quite amazing (you can climb it, but it would have been suicidal on the day I was there, as it was ice covered, it's a sheer cone and there is no marked track).

The morning sun had melted the lower regions but the upper parts of the mountains were snow-covered (the first snow I've seen since Jan 2003) and verticle AND horizontal icicles were hanging from some rocks! Strangely, at the top of the Red Crater, which you get to by walking over another crater, is a thermal area. Steam rises from it and the ground is warm to touch!
Over this you slide or surf down volcanic gravel to find 3 emerald green lakes and a big blue lake as well (yes, the water is green and blue). Some of which reflect the moutains behind, simply stunning.

Most people say the worst part is the Devil's Staircase up the South Crater at the start of the walk, but I found it to be the million odd stairs down the North Crater and through the forest to finally get to Ketatahi Hut and the bus back to Taupo.

For anybody interested, the walk was 17km long, took over 8 hours to complete and I had to wait 2 days to be able to do it (they close the path if the weather is bad and I've met some people who waited 5 days and missed out), but I thoroughly recommend it if you get the chance!

By JamesReed on 14.04.04 @ 07:21 AM GMT