Taupo - Tongariro Alpine crossing

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Up very early today we were due to be picked up at 6am for the drive to the start of the crossing. We were all very tired and most of us slept all the way to the start. We got there it was quite cold and the mountains were covered in clouds. After a quick comfort break we set off in a group, it quickly became apparent that some people walked at very different paces so we formed smaller groups we were a group of 3 with an Irish girl called Shinead. The first hour was not to hard to protect the land walk ways had been built which were really easy to walk on. The second hour was a different story it was up hill all the way and very steep in parts. The scenery was amazing it was in some places like you imagine the surface of the moon and it others it was really colourful. We were making really good progress so decided to do an extra walk to the summit of Mt Tongariro (seemed like a good idea at the time). As we got higher the winds were really strong and the clouds came in making it very difficult walking. Every time we thought we were at the top we had further to go we just couldn’t see it because of the clouds. We got there in the end a few photos some food then straight back down. On the way down we bumped into someone who worked for Logica he had a Logica bag so we asked and sure enough he worked for Logica Holland!!! We got back onto the main track and down to the emerald lakes and the red crater, the lakes were stunning and parts of the crater were really deep reds. We carried on up hill down hill for a while then got to what we thought was nearly the end but the track down winded down the hill for ages. The direct route would have been much quicker. After the last hut stop where we had some more food we headed into a forest where they had put in steps which were a killer on the knees. We came out of the forest into a car park which marked the end of the crossing. Even with the summit detour we made it back 45mins before our pick up and ages before some of the other walkers. We slept most of the way back and after a shower and some food we headed out to meet some people we met in Melbourne who lived in Taupo a few beers with them then off to bed.

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