The Tongariro Crossing – Feb. 13, 2007

We got into Tongariro National Park on the 12th to find the holiday park was closed and not taking any more bookings for the evening. We called the after hours number and they told us if we could find a site, to use it. We did, luckily enough. We had some dinner at a (very) local pub and arose early the next morning (5am) to get ready to catch our shuttle to the trail head. We drove to Ketatahi Car Park (the finish of the trail) and parked, and were picked up by Tongariro Crossing Shuttles. Half an hour later, we were at the trail head, preparing to hike the 17-km trail which would take us past Mount Ngaurohoe (aka Mount Doom!)

It was freezing cold outside…there was frost on the ground. Weird for this time of year here. We entered the trail, and soon were in the unforgiving hills of Mordor! The sites were amazing…we saw Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngaurohoe, Mount Tongariro, and far in the distance, Mount Taranaki, which dominated its horizon.

The sites were amazing and the trail was extremely challenging and rocky (but extremely rewarding). Now we know why hobbits have wide feet.

We saw the Red Crater, Central Crater, the Emerald Lakes (awe-inspiring…so clear and colorful), and Crystal Lake. Descending the trail we had a view of lakes, the ocean, Mount Manganui, Te Urewera, and much more.

By the end of the trail we were dead tired (9 hours later). We then drove on to Waitomo, where we were to go into the “Lost World” the next day. We stayed at Woodlyn Park, where we slept in the tail of an old RNZ Airforce plane (a BF170). Sweet.

~ by jboehman on February 14, 2007.