The Tongariro Northern Circuit

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
December 8th 2006

Published: December 15th 2006

On the 8th of December I decided to leave Taupo to do a great walk in the Tongariro National Park.
I went with a new friend I made at my hostel in taupo called Gal from Israel. He offered to give me a ride up in his car and do the 4 day hike with him.
The first day was an easy 3 hour walk to the huts positioned in the walk, so we began late at 1 oclock where we got some great shots of the three active volcanos! Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngaruhoe and Mount Rupehu.
The next day was by far the best! The weather was fantastic which was great as the weather we were told had been terrible for months and you could see anything then but the weather was as crisp as it could be.

We set off from the hut on our second day, knowing we had a long walk ahead of us at about 6am. Tongariro home to Mount Ngaruhoe otherwise known as Mount Doom out of 'The Lord of the Rings' which I had to climb to the top! - hence the early morning.
The climb was steep but would been all the

Mount Doom!

3 hour return journey

worth while when on top. Well thats what I told myself for motivation. The rocks were rough and prickerly and hurt to touch which became another concern. I didnt realise until halfway up how dangerous this climb was! It is recommended not to be climbed but it is allowed by DOC. The climb up the mountain is steep and it is renowned for its slippery surface. Infact in guides it actually states that usually you would take two steps up and slide the equivilant of 1 step down due to the fact the ground is like dirt. It was also well known to be about 2 hrs up and 30 minutes down - lol!
After 45minutes, reaching half way the views were fantastic but the views down were now becoming a concern. If I fell backwards I could easily of rolled down to the bottom. After another 30minutes we found snow and ice our next task to face climbing upto the top. This was probably the most dangerous section as ice is worse for steady footing! Finally we reached the top and the views were spectacular as you can see. It was well worth doing!
On the way down although

The Icy tops of Mount Doom

i was worried it turned out to be the most fun! Basically you lean back and slide all the way down. It felt like blading (skiing) but instead - on dirt! We made it down in 30minutes despite taking about 1hour 15 up. Crazy! We continued the walk where we saw some other amazing sites along the way. The blue sulphur lakes which again smelt of rotten eggs! The red Crator where you can actually see where the lava dropped out when it erupted. We also saw some great pictures of the valleys in the distance until we reached the next hut exhausted at about 2pm
The next day was another bright day and we walked with good pace to the next hut seeing some more amazing views - walking in desert scenery on the backdrop of snow capped mountains - really strange.
The last day saw a change in weather where it went cold wet and worst of all windly. The last 3 days we had been walking in shorts and t-shirts now put on a vest, a t-shirt, my jumper and my ski jacket and I was still cold! But finally we finished and despite the weather it