Tongariro

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High on the central plateua of the North Island is the Tongariro National Park. The National Park consists of three major peaks Mount Tongariro, Mount Nqauruhoe, Mount Ruapehu, given to the country by Horonuku Te Heuheu Tukino and chief of the Ngati Tuwhretoa people in 1887 - New Zealand’s first national park.

In the winter the attraction is the skiing in the summer the walking, or tramping. I stayed in the National Park Village and the National Park Backpackers, a hostel with New Zealands highest climbing wall, (from sea level). Spent the first evening at the hostel climbing around on the indoor walls, the first time I have climbed and really enjoyed it. On an indoor wall the holds are all marked really clearly, but allows you to gain strength and technique in a very safe environment.

The Tongaririo Crossing is one of the most popular day walks in New Zealand, a 17km steep hike that takes in some of the strangest scenery I have seen yet. Wandering around the peaks of Mount Tongaririo and Mount Nguruhoe past the Red Crater and Emerald Lakes. It is part of a bigger three day tramp, but I decided to wait until the South Island for the longer walks.

I spent the walking hiking with Stephanie, from San Francisco, halfway through a whirlwind tour of New Zealand - she would be flying home before I reached the South Island.

We started the Tongaririo Crossing at around 8.30am, the first half of the walk is a steep climb up to a plateua between the three main peaks. Its possible to ascend the peaks and look down from the summit, we were unlucky with the weather and clouds obscured the view for the most part of the walk. We climbed Mount Tongaririo through snow and ice, stood at the summit and looked at the cloud. Descended more quickly and rejoined the rest of the walk.

There were lots of other people on the walk, parties of school kids and travellers for the most part. One of the kids in the school party was walking barefoot, we asked him why and he showed a huge blister on the back of his heel. This is what happens when you borrow your mum’s walking boots, a painful lesson. We passed the kids who were going pretty slow at this point, a few miles on a few more kids were walking. We asked them if they were with the kid with no shoes. “O yea, the best thing is that we put rocks in his pack”. Kids are really great.

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