From a base in Ohakune (carrot capital of NZ, and a huge ski and snoboarding center in winter), we did an amazing 19.4k walk called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, in Tongariro National Park.  The full trek is multi-day, but this full-day hike was plenty for us, with some steep terrain heading up and an even more challenging segment down the other side.  The walk is quite popular, but since it’s early in the season, there weren’t too many people out.  The weather was perfect.  The walk started from the end of Mangatepopo Road, where we were dropped off by a shuttle at 8:30 am.  It would meet us at the Ketetahi Road, where we should emerge by either 4 pm or 5 pm.

It was a steep climb up to the South Crater between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe, two of the three volcanoes in the area. The highest point in the walk was Red Crater (1886 meters).  You can see steam puffing out of still active vents at several points.  Once near the saddle of the two volcanoes we started to run into snow, which was a pleasant surprise.  Along with cooling the temperature we used the snow to cool ourselves!  After Red Crater, we head down, passing the almost fluorescent Emerald Lakes before arriving at Blue Lake, where we had a bite to eat and a bit of a rest.

From there, the track leads to the Ketetahi Hut, used by those who spend the night on the track, and then past sacred springs down through native forest to the end.  We made it down by 2:30 pm, so we had to wait a while for the shuttle.  In retrospect, we should have taken it easier, but at the beginning we were worried we wouldn’t even get there by 5!  If nothing else, it made us feel like we’re not in such bad shape after all!

A quick note to all you Lord of The Rings fans- Mt Ngauruhoe (the classic looking volcanoe) was used as Mount Doom in the movie.  The are tons of film locations all over the country and you could spend weeks just tracking all of them down.

Back to the North Island!