The Tongariro National Park has dramatic scenery, including Mount Doom, and unique land forms so it's no surprise that the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a world-renowned trek and rated as the best one day trek in New Zealand. So after such accolades we were up for the walk.
We arrived at the national park in rain and the weather wasnt looking good for the next day either but we only had a limited amount of time so it was either the next day or nothing. We were advised not to attempt the whole crossing but to walk to the Red Crater and then turn back. As this point would give us the best views anyway we thought we'd go for it.
We unloaded the car and took our filling pasta meal to the kitchen to cook, it was then we realised we'd made a big mistake. You had to bring all your own cooking equipment with you, even the plates and knives and forks, we had none of this stuff! Luckily we had a loaf of bread, some advocados and some crisps so we made a few rounds of sandwiches for dinner!
Next morning we were up bright and early but the weather was rubbish. But we were told it might clear so we drove to the start of the track and sat in the car waiting for the rain to clear. Eventually it did, a little bit.
For about 2 hours we were walking in light rain and mist and couldnt really see much but when we got to the craters the weather suddenly cleared, just in time for us to see the lakes. The wind was fierce at the top and was almost blowing us over, so after some quick photos we made our way back to the car. The round trip took 5 hours and was definitely worth it. We went back to our accommodation for more advocado and crisp sandwiches!
We could see about 20m in front of us at some points!
Blue skies at last!
The start of the steep climb to the top
Amazing view of the Red Crater
South Crater
1 comment:
Mount Doom? Isn't that from Lord of the Rings? And what did you cut the avocados with if you didn't have any cutlery? x
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