Days 27-28 - Taupo and the Tongariro Crossing
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2009
1
9
38
Trip End
Aug 26, 2009
Auckland, New Zealand
Friday, March 27, 2009
Due to the good weather forecasted, we spent only a few hours in Taupo to see Ora Gardens in the towns museum and a stop by the lake for the view. We headed quickly on to the national park to prepare for our one day hike across the Tongariro Alpine crossing, touted as one of the world's best one day walks.
The next day we woke up at 5.30am in the freezing cold and put on our new gortex hiking gear (bought in Rotorua for a great bargain) and caught the shuttle from the campsite to the start of the 19.4km hike at Mangatepopo hut at the based of the volcanoes in the national park. We began walking at 6.15 with torches and the stars up the side of the first volcano. As we got to the first level crater, the sun was rising. Inside the crater, it was like walking on the moon, no vegitation and lots of fragmented volcanic rock. At this point we were aleady above the cloud level and could see a perfectly white blanket below. The sun shone on the volcano giving it a rich orange colour and the sky was deep blue. No wind. Very surreal like nowhere we had been before. We continued across the plateau of the crater and then commenced anothe 45min ascent along a ridge to the summit of an adjacent volcano. The panoramic view from the top (1887m above sea level) was amazing. One side you could see another volcano, another looked into the crater, snotgher looked down the side of the volcano at the Emerald Lakes. This were brilliantly colourful volcanic lakes which formed on the top of the volcanoe. This is where we stopped for our lunch at 9am! Having made such great progress early on in the walk, we arrived at the 13km rest point point by 10.30 and as the bus was not collecting us til 2.30 had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the view and sun before completing the 6.4km descent through the forest. It was a great achievement and a brilliant experience. Back at the ranch, we showered and drove south to Palmerson North, which we used as a stop over point on our way down to Wellington.
