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Blogs from Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania
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The Tongariro Crossing and Mount Ngauruhoe
Published: April 25th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
April 18th 2013
Wake up to very low cloud but dry…hoorah! About 15 of us from the hostel pile on the shuttle at 7.15am and by 8am are walking into the mist and haze that is this famous landscape. Everyone has a different pace so we naturally all split down with Alex, Graham, Will and I all walking together. The beginning of the walk, to the soda springs was quite an errie feel, thanks to the fact you couldn’t see anything around except the outline of big mountains either side of you. After soda springs we reached an area known as the ‘devils staircase’, and an hour later when we reached the top we knew why, wooden steps in the mountain alternated with steep paths, sure took it out of us. At the top of the ‘devils staircase’ I ... read more
Goodbye Wellington
Published: April 23rd 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National ParkApril 17th 2013
Mike very kindly dropped me at the bus station, and I was on the bus zooming out of Wellington at 9am. We had a few stops at little towns along the way – nothing to note apart from incredibly quiet and small – nothing to them! The lunch stop was a little bigger, but again, eerily quiet, and the only shops included every type of fast food place (MacDonald’s, KFC, Subway, Burger King), lots of second hand furniture/antique style shops…but not high end antiques, and cafes selling Fish and Chips. At Turangi I changed bus with most other people, on to a shuttle to the National Park Village, where we arrived at 4pm, in torrential rain. I have had my heart set on doing a walk known as the Northern Circuit, here in the Tongariro National ... read more
Day 84: Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Published: March 5th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
March 3rd 2013
Last night the hostel partied hard... We however did not as we had to begin our journey to the national park at 5.30am. I barely slept a wink but I think that may have been a mixture of the loud music and the adrenaline from the sky dive. We started the track at 7.00am and had a 10 hour walk ahead of us. Due to the volcanic eruption in August 2012 part of the original crossing is closed, therefore we opted for the 'highlights' walk which includes the famous Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings. I can safely say that this was the hardest mountain I've ever climbed, but the views from the top were phenomenal. I particularly liked the emerald lakes, that looked beautiful amidst the brown volcanic soil. Infact if you picked ... read more
The Tongariro Crossing
Published: February 14th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
February 14th 2013
Jan attemped to conquer the Tongariro Crossing. Been there, done that. Small detail, he forgot the ring. He will have to come back another time...... read more
Day 7 Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Published: February 13th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
February 12th 2013
Even though I had been waking up around 6 every morning, going up at 5 was really hard. But I manage to get up, pack all my food and lots of water and went out to meet up Mia. She picked me up and we got down to Taupo, met up with her friend Luke and hop on the shuttle that would drive us the 1.5h to the begin of the Tongariro Alpine Cross. Normally you go across the mountain and get picked up on the other side, but as I mention in the previous post the Northern part of the crossing are closed since they fear more eruptions. Tongariro is one of many active volcanoes in New Zealand and this one erupted twice last fall so I was told that if it erupted while we ... read more
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10.02. National Park
Published: March 12th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
February 10th 2013
7 Uhr in der Früh fuhr der Bus von der Blue Duck Station los, zurück zum National Park. Entlang der Schotterpiste ging es mit Unterhaltung von Simpsons der Film. Gegen 8 Uhr sind wir im kleinen Örtchen zum National Park angekommen. Heute steht eine Wanderung über 7h an! Der Himmel ist an diesem Morgen sehr neblig, man sieht kleine Partikel vor sich in der Luft umher fliegen. 28 Leute haben sich für die Wanderung angemeldet. Aufgrund der Wetterbedingung gehen einige davon aus, dass es kein schönes Wanderwetter ist und canceln den Trip. Somit sind wir 16 Leute, welche den Trip wagen. Nach einer kurzen Einweisung geht es in den Bus und ab zum Ausgangspunkt der Wanderung. Es geht einen langen Weg entlang, bis man nach 1h den Fuß des Berges erreicht. Nach einigen Fotos werden die ... read more
09.02. Blue Duck Station
Published: March 12th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
February 9th 2013
Wir machten einen kurzen Zwischenstopp im kleinen Örtchen National Park, wo wir einige Schnappschüsse machten und dann ging es den holprigen Weg in Richtung „Blue Duck Station“. Wir haben ein super Wetter wieder und so erwartet uns hier eine sonnige Berglandschaft. Einiges erinnert an die Alpen. So sind hier auch einige Kühe, aber mehr Schafe, auf den Hügeln frei umherlaufend und es gibt auch Bienenstöcke. Die Gegend hier ist auch bekannt für ihren Akazienhonig (???). Wie der Name unserer heutigen Unterkunft verrät, geht es hier größtenteils um die „Blue Duck“. Um die Station ist größtenteils Privatland, wo versucht wird im Einklang mit der Natur zu leben, wie es in Neuseeland größtenteils gemacht wird. Neben dem Tier- und Umweltschutz soll die blaue Ente wieder angesiedelt werden. Für diesen Nachmittag habe ich mich für eine „Bush Safari“ ... read more
Mount Doom
Published: January 30th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
January 28th 2013
We left Taupo in the early morning and headed to Waitomo Caves. We opted for a walking tour so we could see the glow worms. Given we were at the Jenolan caves in the Blue Mountains a few weeks ago, we are now pretty "caved out", but the silky glow worm threads and lighting they produced were cool to see, even if impossible to catch on camera. After a stop at the last major town to stock up on food (there is very little out there), we headed towards the Tongariro National Park. This park is best known for being one of New Zealand's most spectacular, with active volcanoes, including "Mount Doom" (Mt Ngauruhoe) from the Lord of the Rings films. It is also the starting point for what is billed as the best one-day trek ... read more
Klimmen op een vulkaan
Published: February 16th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
January 25th 2013
25 januari 6 uur s’ochtends…GAAP! Waarom we zo vroeg opstaan? Omdat we vandaag de Tongariro crossing gaan lopen. De so called beste eendaagse wandeling van Nieuw-Zeeland en een ‘must-do’ voor iedere toerist. Meestal krijgen we de kriebels van dat soort uitspraken en doen we de betreffende activiteit expres niet, maar vandaag maken we een uitzondering. Het stond al weken op Veerle’s verlanglijstje en ze heeft net zolang erover gepraat dat Dirk na een tijdje zei dat het ook op zijn verlanglijstje stond. Hoera! En dus zijn we vanuit Taupo naar het zuiden gefietst. Langs Lake Taupo (het grootste meer van Nieuw-Zeeland en even groot als Singapore…hoe bizar!) naar Turangi. Daar werden we de volgende ochtend om kwart over 7 opgehaald bij onze camping. Vandaar het vroege opstaan. We waren niet de enige met het plan. Onze ... read more
Volcanoes, Thermal Springs and Hobbit Holes!
Published: January 5th 2013Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
December 15th 2012
After a lovely stay at the very generous Crawforths it was time to head out of Wellington and start exploring again. First though we needed to stop off at the British Embassy so we could pick up our replacement passports. We weren't there for long though, it took less time to get the new passports than it did to get the photos for them developed! Rule Britannia! We drove up straight through the middle of the north island towards our walking destination near the Tongariro Crossing. The scenery was not quite as spectacular as the South Island and you could instantly tell there were more people as there was more traffic and litter around (70% of the NZ population live in the north island) . It was still a lovely drive and after leaving the rolling ... read more
