Tongeriro Crossing

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13.11.05 Got to Whakapapa (remember wh is pronounced f) in the rain, booked into our site and watched a couple of videos. We came to Whakapapa to do the famous Tongariro crossing one of the best walks in New Zealand. We went to the info site to check the weather but rain for the next day and fine on Tue. Fingers crossed we would do it Tuesday.

14.11.05 Rained all day, went for a short drive to National Park Village. Watched videos. Checked weather for tomorrow, looking good so booked on the transport for tomorrow. You have to use the transport because if you leave your car there it would get broken into as they know you are away for so long on the walk.

15.11.05
Up at 5.30am, freezing cold as we are thousands of meters above sea level and a perfectly clear day. Got our 6 layers on (all the clothes we posess) had socks as gloves and a serong for a scarf, packed our rations and more clothes and waterproofs. People who had done it the day before got soaked and saw nothing, bet they wished they had waited a day!
On the bus at 6.30. Started the walk at 6.45am only 6-7hours to go! The crossing is 17km long and takes you through and over the 2 volcanoes. It takes you past Mt Ruapehu and over Mt Tongariro which is 1900m above sea level. The first couple of hours were hard work and we climbed 800m up some rough terrain. In total we climbed 800m up and 1000m down. We saw the south crater, red crater (very impressive), still steaming and you could smell the sulphur. Here we had an amazing view of the surrounding valleys and mountains. We then had to go down a steep ash hill which was really loose under foot and difficult also a little scarey. From here you can see the emerald lake, blue lake and central crater. From here we could see some cloud building, the weather can change drastically in minutes. There's us in our make shift mountaineering gear and others had poles and fully kitted out. This was not a gentle stroll, even on the flat we were power walking.
At the emerald lakes we had a quick stop for a sandwich and some chocolate, still only 9am.
Set off again through a bit a snow and another climb to the blue lake. This is where we hit the cloud and you could only see a few meters infront of you. Very atmospheric. This was the start of our descent to the Ketetahi hut. This is also a change of scenery from a steaming volcano to grass, streams and rock covered hillsides. After a couple of hours we reached the hut, which means there should only be another 2 hours left.Here we had a short sit down and more food. You could see the Ketetahi springs which are out of bounds to the public as they belong to the local Maori tribe. These were more steaming areas and hot water. Off we went again into forest for our last few hours. This was a nice change of scenery but a little difficult as it was down hill all the way and our legs were really beginning to ache now, ready to finish. 6 and a half hours later and out of the blue the forest ended. FINISHED! What a great walk, amazing scenery and achievement. We were very proud of ourselves.
Got back to the site, had a shower and headed off to Wellington.

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Photos

Mt Ngauruhoe
Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings

Comments

[Tony and Rhonda]

climb every mountain!
Well done you pair realy impressed with your climb!

[Barbara Waters]

Well done
You two are doing so well. I really look forward to you updates, it shows me theres another world out there. Alwasy forward them on to Sarah and Gems as well. Take care. Barb

[Sophie]

The crossing is fabulous and one of my best memories of the north island. I'm jealous that you got to do it in a completely clear day as the views must have been even more amazing than I remember, glad to hear you didn't find it a stroll in the park either- i thought it was just me being particularly unfit!