In December we were lucky enough to visit New Zealand for a month, we did lots of amazing things while we were there but perhaps the highlight was the Tongariro Crossing. The Crossing is a day walk of 18.5km through the Tongariro National Park on the north island of New Zealand.
We bought a map from the visitors centre in Ohakune and booked with one of the many transport companies that drop walkers off at the start of the walk and collect you again later in the day...simple as that, the lady at the visitors centre assured us that it's impossible to get lost....i've heard that before!! It was a fantastic day, bright blue skies and every different type of terrain imaginable, from volcanoes to emerald lakes, craters to lush forest.
The walk starts through an area called Soda springs which is a series of walkways over lots of small springs and is very pleasant despite the massive number of people already doing the walk. It gets a bit quieter later on in the walk as people spread out and walk at different paces
- the lady at the visitors centre was right though, it would be pretty impossible to get lost as the trail is very well signposted and you can pretty much just follow the trail of people in front of you!
From here you head up the devil's staircase which is fairly steep but not particularly difficult and from here there are amazing views of Mt.Ngauruhoe which was used as Mt.Doom in the lord of the rings films!
Once you've crossed the flat expanse of South crater you head up a fairly steep and exposed ridge to Red crater to get your first views of the emerald lakes. The views were amazing, definitely worth the climb!
The descent from the Red crater was really steep with loose sand all the way down and after my initial trepidation, it was actually quite fun sliding all the way down!! All around the emerald lakes were steam vents giving out an awful sulpher smell, we decided to save our packed lunches for somewhere a bit less smelly! The track follows around the edge of Central crater which then climbs up to the blue lake before you start your descent to the Ketetahi hut, this section is a total change of scenery as you head down to a forest track for the end of the walk. It was a fantastic day walk taking in so many different types of terrain in such a short time and although not particularly difficult we were both shattered after a full day out in the baking sun and slept most of the way back to the campsite on the bus!
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