Advertisement
Published: April 28th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Reputed to be NZ's most scenic day walk, i figured that 'the Tongariro Crossing' might be worth a look... so when I learned that the Uni tramping club planned to go there, i made sure to get on the list! We left Auckland on the Friday evening, to make our way down towards Taupo, and our destination: Tongariro National Park. We stayed at a holiday park close to 'Whakapapa' (I wont go into the pronunciation!), where most people stayed in Huts. Myself Fred and Maelle decided to take the slightly less comfortable, yet cheaper option, and camp.
The plan had been to do the Crossing on Saturday and then climb Mt Ruapehu to the summit plateau and have a formal lunch! However, the universe conspired against things going to plan, and when we awoke to cook breakfast pancakes on Saturday morning, the weather was not looking good at all. Apparently it's not worth doing the crossing in poor conditions, so we did a different day walk to the 'crater lakes'.
Weather-wise it was a fairly abysmal day, with really poor visibility. But the walk was pleasant and easy going... We passed a really good waterfall, and the crater
lakes (lower and upper) were definitely worth a look. Myself, and fellow trampers Mildred, Joe & Craig decided to descend the side of the volcanic crater that holds the upper lake... there had been talk of 'a paddle' but i think once we'd all stuck a finger in the water, the idea was quickly reduced to pure humour. We got some great echos by shouting across the lake though, it was like being Sauroman himself. We were at the back of the group by this point, as everyone had begun the trek back. We were pretty lucky in seeing a rainbow over the lower lake as we made our way back. The day ended with food, beer and planning (an excellent combination) back at the park.
I can't remember if It was 5 or 6am when I woke on Sunday, all I know is it was very very early, and still dark. Apparently the weather was going to be much better today and so, Tongariro crossing was the plan. We'd divided into groups the night before, depending on whether we wanted the Mt Narahoe and/or formal luncheon 'bolt ons'... I'd opted for everything. We piled into the minibuses to
make our way to the start of the walk. I'd brought a along guitar for added comedy value at the luncheon, but since I was planning to hike up Mt Narahoe (famously used as Mt Doom in the filming of Lord of the Rings) I didn't fancy lugging it up there (especially as we were expecting to walk at break-neck speed to fit all the days' events into the daylight)... lucky Fred and Maelle opted out of the side trip, and Maelle offered to be my Roadie for the day. Which was nice.
So it was that we set out on the path of the Tongariro crossing! The weather was excellent, as we began, it was turning out to be an awesome day. Owen, who lead our group (and co-organised the trip) set quite a pace, and was probably nearly a km ahead of us all for the first leg... I was puffing a fair amount by the time i caught up with Owen at the base of Narahoe, but felt achievement in being the first behind him.
We stashed some of our gear around the corner and began our accent of Narahoe. We managed a pretty decent
pace, making it up to the crater in just under and hour. It was tough going (as anyone who's ever tried to climb a scree slope will appreciate!) it was incredibly steep too. Every now and then clouds would blow across the face of the mountain and you'd loose visibility for a while; before it cleared to reveal stunning views around. As we neared the top, I got an incredible sense of just how much higher we were than everything around! Narahoe last erupted in the 70's i think, and is still considered active (although apparently it is really only a side vent of Mt Tongariro!) you could see volcanic steam rising from one side of it.
The crater was quite a sight... it sprang up very quickly, one minute you're walking up, the next there's a massive hole in front of you! We dressed up in our luncheon outfits at the top... as you can see. The walk (or slide) down took less than 10 minutes i estimate! For all the toils of climbing Mt Doom, going down was very easy; and pretty fun too!
Having found our gear (luckily before the Keas did) we rejoined the
crossing-route and made our way on. We met Fred and Maelle a little further on, who seemed to have spent most of their time doing photo shoots for future album covers (far from being a burden, i think the guitar enriched the walk somewhat!). As we reached the highest part of the walk, we could see across to the 'blue lake' and down to the 'emerald lakes', really stunning. The area had a volcanic feel and smell (not dissimilar to the Rotarura area) and all the colours struck me as being vibrant in an almost surreal way.
Down by the lakes, we donned our formal wear and cracked open the champagne for a spot of lunch. This was a welcome break from the intense tramping; and largely centred around taking amusing or downright strange photos. Some of the lasses floated an inflatable dingy on the lake. Owen decided to swim in the lake, possibly to test his strength of character, or possibly because he'd had a little more champagne than some... who knows. I was temped, but decided there was probably a reason that the champers had been chilled in the lake!
The walk back took us over
to the other side of the mountain range, from which we could see out across a decent chunk of the north island. We passed some volcanic springs, which are good for swimming apparently, but out of bounds (Moari sacred site).
By the time we reached the carpark at the end of the route, I was pretty exhausted. Our speedy accent of Mt Doom combined with the walk had certainly been demanding! All in all an excellent walk, I can appreciate why it's so acclaimed as a stunning route. I'd say it deserves the reputation. Combined with the peak and the fun and games of the luncheon, this had been a most excellent day. A good tramp had by all.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.406s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 16; qc: 71; dbt: 0.1725s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Chris
non-member comment
Keeping your end up
Dear Tom, It looks like you are seeing a fair bit of the landscape while you are over there. I liked the shot of the lakeside party. Glad to see you are teaching these colonials a thing or two about elegance and style.