We woke up to drizzle and a lot of low lying cloud – not what we needed for the 19.2km crossing. Undeterred we jumped on the shuttle bus and were driven 20 minutes to the starting point. The bus driver assured us that the weather would clear once the sun rose so were excited for what lay ahead having seen the amazing pictures other people have taken.
The Tongiriro crossing is probably the most popular one day walk in NZ and hundreds of people a day complete it, as it became famous from The Lord of The Rings films – we were not alone. The starting point was around 1100m above sea level and ahead us was an 800m climb / descent, taking in Forrest, mountain peaks, volcanic craters and lakes. After about an hour we were making excellent progress.
The going was tough but we were enjoying it. The clouds were still low so no views yet! We then reached a section of the walk called ‘The Devil’s Staircase’. The name says it all. The next few KMs were very slow and painful – a sharp ascent up the mountain. Half way up we stopped for a rest and were joined by a Dutch man who was from our campsite. He had some huge blisters so was struggling. He stayed with us for a while and we motivated him to push on. A few KMs later we thought we had reached the top of the mountain. Visibility was less than 10m, there was a gale force wind and the temperature had dropped to near freezing! Our enjoyment levels were dropping.
It was then that we learnt that the steepest climb to the peak of the mountain was still ahead of us.... ouch! We scrambled through loose volcanic rocks up very steep climbs, stopping every few hundred meters to rest our legs!! We had reached the top! What a relief!! The visibility had not improved any but we were sheltered from the wind at least.
Now for the descent. The first part was past the main crater of the volcano and down a steep section with a lot of loose rocks and ash, on either side of us was a drop of a few hundred meters. Amanda ended up on her backside a few times. The wind picked up again and was mental! A few hours later we stopped at a hut for lunch (pre cooked tuna pasta – get us! Spot the swimmers!) which was meant to have amazing views – the weather decided otherwise! The last few KMs were through a forest and seemed to never end! By this point Amanda’s knee was killing her and Gav had a few blisters. We were ready to stop! Eventually we made it to the end at 2.30pm. One major thing that kept us going was nibbling on some Kendal Mint Cake that was given to us by a good friend Suzanne – thanks you’re a life saver!! :o)
N.B. If you would like to see some AMAZING photos of the Tongariro Crossing - how it was meant to look, then scroll back up to the title of this blog, and click on it - it will take you to google images - the pictures that convinced us to do this mammoth walk hehe! Oh well, such is life!
The Tongiriro crossing is probably the most popular one day walk in NZ and hundreds of people a day complete it, as it became famous from The Lord of The Rings films – we were not alone. The starting point was around 1100m above sea level and ahead us was an 800m climb / descent, taking in Forrest, mountain peaks, volcanic craters and lakes. After about an hour we were making excellent progress.
The going was tough but we were enjoying it. The clouds were still low so no views yet! We then reached a section of the walk called ‘The Devil’s Staircase’. The name says it all. The next few KMs were very slow and painful – a sharp ascent up the mountain. Half way up we stopped for a rest and were joined by a Dutch man who was from our campsite. He had some huge blisters so was struggling. He stayed with us for a while and we motivated him to push on. A few KMs later we thought we had reached the top of the mountain. Visibility was less than 10m, there was a gale force wind and the temperature had dropped to near freezing! Our enjoyment levels were dropping.
It was then that we learnt that the steepest climb to the peak of the mountain was still ahead of us.... ouch! We scrambled through loose volcanic rocks up very steep climbs, stopping every few hundred meters to rest our legs!! We had reached the top! What a relief!! The visibility had not improved any but we were sheltered from the wind at least.
Now for the descent. The first part was past the main crater of the volcano and down a steep section with a lot of loose rocks and ash, on either side of us was a drop of a few hundred meters. Amanda ended up on her backside a few times. The wind picked up again and was mental! A few hours later we stopped at a hut for lunch (pre cooked tuna pasta – get us! Spot the swimmers!) which was meant to have amazing views – the weather decided otherwise! The last few KMs were through a forest and seemed to never end! By this point Amanda’s knee was killing her and Gav had a few blisters. We were ready to stop! Eventually we made it to the end at 2.30pm. One major thing that kept us going was nibbling on some Kendal Mint Cake that was given to us by a good friend Suzanne – thanks you’re a life saver!! :o)
N.B. If you would like to see some AMAZING photos of the Tongariro Crossing - how it was meant to look, then scroll back up to the title of this blog, and click on it - it will take you to google images - the pictures that convinced us to do this mammoth walk hehe! Oh well, such is life!
The bus took us back to our van and we hit the road again. We drove south heading for Wanganui. The scenery on the way was very dramatic – like it was from The Lord of The Rings films! On the way we found a long fence which had hundreds of pairs of shoes tied to it – a very strange site.
We arrived at the campsite and decided that we should stay for 2 nights and have a day of rest on the Wednesday. To celebrate our success we drove into the town centre and had an Indian meal – we thoroughly enjoyed it after a pretty mental day! The crossing was an amazing experience and would have been so much more memorable if the weather had played its part!
We arrived at the campsite and decided that we should stay for 2 nights and have a day of rest on the Wednesday. To celebrate our success we drove into the town centre and had an Indian meal – we thoroughly enjoyed it after a pretty mental day! The crossing was an amazing experience and would have been so much more memorable if the weather had played its part!
No comments:
Post a Comment