The Tongariro Crossing is widely regarded as the best one day walk in New Zealand, so I decided to give it a shot. Coincidentally, when I went to pay for the shuttle ticket at Reception the night before, the woman in front of me was also buying a ticket too. She remarked that it was a very early start...she wasn't wrong, the bus was going to pick us up at 5.40am!
Thankfully, my fellow dorm buddies were also getting up at that hellish time and so I managed to get about 6 hours sleep. But as is often the case when you know you have to be up early, you keep waking up and checking your watch! When I checked for the millionth time and it was 4.50am, I decided to get ready (in the dark) and make some breakfast as I clearly wasn’t getting back to sleep. Getting out of bed was somewhat tricky not only due to the unearthly hour but because someone appeared to have swapped my thighs for two big lumps of concrete - apparently the previous days underground caving adventure had been more grueling than it felt at the time!
Anyway - Peanut butter and jam sandwiches packed and I was ready to walk that mountain!
The bus stopped at various other hostels along the way, but within about 90 minutes we were at the start of the Crossing. The driver had given us instructions and maps, and warned us about the Devil's Staircase! He said you'd know why it was called that when you were half way up it! I was so very very glad I’d decided to buy new walking boots before I left the UK as I had a sneaking suspicion that they were going to come in very useful today!
The first section of the track was fairly easy and flat, and it took us just one hour to complete (exactly as out handy schedule indicated!) how hard can this be I though!
The scenery was fantastic, although it was a little cloudy to begin with. However, our spirits were dampened a little when we reached the infamous Devil's Staircase that the driver had warned us about! It certainly was tough on the old legs, and it did seem to be a never-ending climb you turn a corner thinking it’s the top and……. oh no yet more stairs!!!. I kept having small breathers under the pretence I wanted to take in the scenery which admittedly was stunning! It also meant the small group that I was walking with could all catch up!
After 45 minutes of fairly steep climbing, we reached the top and I treated myself to the first of my PB and J sandwiches...a well deserved reward ! We had apparently now completed the hardest section of the track! There was the option of doing a 3 hour side trip up one of the Mountains, but apparently that was extremely difficult and not recommended in the cloudy conditions we had today due to there not actually being a designated track to tack - so apparently its just every man for himself up that one!!
The next 2 hours involved walking through the Red Crater and along a VERY narrow ridge. At times I looked around me and it was just like being on the Moon (not that I've ever actually been there but I imagine it to look just the same!). Really eerie! This climb was actually one of the most tricky parts but mostly due to the gale force winds that had been waiting there for us! At times I really thought I might get blown clean off the side. In the end we ended up climbing over the rocks on our hands and knees in an attempt to make the wind blow over us!
Some of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed here, and you could definitely tell. As we touched down on the summit the cloud lifted as if by magic and finally we could see back over the whole valley and I was overwhelmed by the enormousness of the mountains, it felt amazing to be right on top of it!
We passed the Emerald Lakes which were a stunning green colour (or Emerald even) and it was really tempting to just jump right in...but we resisted and instead cracked open the remaining PB and J sarnies and soaked up the sheer beauty of this forgotten land!
We were making really good time at this point and it was just a couple of hours until we reached the next hut.
It was nice having the group to chat to on the way round! It made the time pass quickly and made me forget about my aching thighs! By now they were really starting to ache from the previous days activities.
After stopping at the hut for about 15 minutes, we set off on the last leg of the walk which was all down hill! I found this section the most difficult, although the skies were remaining blue and so the views of the Blue Lake were great. The last hour was in a forest and we saw some really nice waterfalls, and it was good to hear the wildlife all around us after the complete silence in the craters!
After what felt like days of downhill walking the scenery finally changed and I was walking though a rainforest for about another hour it was really beautiful and we past some stunning waterfalls. Suddenly the car park appeared and I really don’t think I could have been happier at that moment! The sun was out so we sat on the grass and soaked up some sun before our lift arrived!
Next …. Onwards (or backwards) to Rotorua to start working!!!!
