Waking up at 5.45am, we were up and ready to take on one of the Great NZ day walks - The Tongariro Crossing.
The 19.3km track runs straight through the 'active volcano zone' of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe with fantastic views and volcanic features the tramp takes you up a steep ascent between the two summits for 4 hours to reach the top of the Red Crater.
We were rewarded from the top (crater edge) with views down into both the South Crater and North Crater, old lava tubes, the geothermal emerald lakes and Mt Ngauruhoe, which was living up to its part in LOTR as Mount Doom.
After a stop for lunch overlooking the landscape and additional side ascent to the Tongariro sunmit, we headed back down the long winding descent to meet our bus - a sight for sore eyes (or should i say feet!) after around 8 hours of walking this spectacular track.
Following a quick look at the gushing Huka Falls (250,000 litres of water per second!) by Lake Taupo (a volcano itself!) we arrived into the small lake-side village of Kinloch where our wonderful hosts Don and Judy welcomed us with a delicious dinner, comfy bed and a spectacular sunset across Lake Taupo with great views back to the volcanoes we'd conquered earlier, now looking unnervingly harmless in the pink haze of the sun.
The 19.3km track runs straight through the 'active volcano zone' of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe with fantastic views and volcanic features the tramp takes you up a steep ascent between the two summits for 4 hours to reach the top of the Red Crater.
We were rewarded from the top (crater edge) with views down into both the South Crater and North Crater, old lava tubes, the geothermal emerald lakes and Mt Ngauruhoe, which was living up to its part in LOTR as Mount Doom.
After a stop for lunch overlooking the landscape and additional side ascent to the Tongariro sunmit, we headed back down the long winding descent to meet our bus - a sight for sore eyes (or should i say feet!) after around 8 hours of walking this spectacular track.
Following a quick look at the gushing Huka Falls (250,000 litres of water per second!) by Lake Taupo (a volcano itself!) we arrived into the small lake-side village of Kinloch where our wonderful hosts Don and Judy welcomed us with a delicious dinner, comfy bed and a spectacular sunset across Lake Taupo with great views back to the volcanoes we'd conquered earlier, now looking unnervingly harmless in the pink haze of the sun.
(10th Nov 2013)
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