Crossing Tongariro

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The Tongariro Crossing - a World Heritage walk accross the volcanic landscape of the central North Island.

The day started early with a 6.15 pick-up from the hostel in Taupo followed by a 90 minute drive past Lake Taupo southwards towards the Tongariro National Park.

It was rainy and cold when we set out and I was very happy that I had dressed for the occasion in full thermals and my new cold-weather gear recently purchsed in Auckland.

The first section of the walk was fairly flat but had rolling hills with large tussocks of grass and scrubland dotted with rocks and boulders.  After just under an hour we reached 'The Devil's Staircase'.  This was about an hour of steep uphill walking on rocky terrain.  Actually not as bad as I thought it might be - hard work, but totally achievable.  At the top, the ground levelled out and we crossed a large area of barren rocky land with tufts of grass towards the ridge.  Mt Ngarahoe was to our right, but sadly behind cloud.  We then walked along a second fairly steep section up the narrow saddle towards the red crater.  We had some fantastic views over the area, rocky craters with steam rising and meeting cloud. At one point Ngarahoe revealed itself for a a few brief seconds - the unmistakable classic cone-shape with a dusting of snow on the summit.

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We carried on to the top of the ridge and sat down for a rest.  The sun was breaking through the cloud and the wind was luckily not too strong.  Sitting down on the crater rim was extremely comfortable due to the (geothermal) underfloor heating!! Warm rocks on a cold day - very nice! As we sat, the cloud behind us parted and revealed the red crater.  A huge and stunning chasm with red rock depsosits (hence the name...!) around the rim. Absolutely beautiful!

From the crater, we headed onto another flatter area towards the lakes - Emerald lakes (again, for obvious reasons!) which were even brighter when the sun hit them and illuminated the contrast again their barren, grey surroundings.

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More rocky plains and then the descent - down through heathland scrub and then through forest down to the exit where we were picked up by our coach and returned to Taupo after a wonderful day of walking and landscapes.

The following day we were driven south to Wellington and along the Desert Road, which goes along the eastern edge of Tongariro National Park.  It was a sunny day and the views of the previous day's hidden mountains were stunning - Ruehpehu, Ngarahoe and Tongariro were all crystal clear.  It might have been nice to have done the Crossing on a clear day, but the ever-shifting clouds gave the place an eerie and beautiful atmosphere.