Tongariro Crossing

When you are in New Zealand you HAVE TO enjoy the beautiful nature. And there is so much to enjoy.
The Tongariro Crossing was on our list so we picked a date, booked an arrangement and we walked the track.
The Tongariro Crossing is part of Tongariro National Park, the eldest National Park of New Zealand. It is a volcanic mountain area in the centre of the North Island.

The Tongariro Crossing is one of the most popular one day tramping tracks in New Zealand. It is so popular, I assume because the nature is different from anywhere else in New Zealand. It is like walking on the moon. Of course it is great that a lot of people come and enjoy this, but to be honest this is a disadvantage of the walk, because it was too crowded.
This is the only bad remark about this great track but I will be honest. We walked this track on a Saturday and also on the last weekend of the summer holidays. I do suggest walking the track on a weekday and not in the holiday season. It will be less crowded and even more spectacular.

All right. We arrived in National Park Village on Friday evening around 10.15 pm. We left Wellington around 05.30 pm, we stopped in Bulls to eat something. So the drive is around 4.5 hours. We booked the "Freedom Trek" at the National Adventure Park Motel/Lodge in National Park Village. This included: two nights in the lodge, 2x breakfast, packed lunch, BBQ diner, usage of the spa, transportation to the track and back, T shirt and certificate. Upon arrival the hostess told us everything what we needed to know and because pick up was at 07.30 am we went to bed straight away.

The day of the Hike
Breakfast at 07.00 a.m. A full hot breakfast, a good start and enough energy to get you through the first climb. The bus came at 07.30 am and around 08.00 am we were at the car park where the track starts (Mangatepopo Road end).
We were warned for the sun even if it was cloudy so we put on sun block, adjusted the shoes and we were all ready to go.

The first hour is a nice and easy start. The path is good and although it climbs a bit, it is a good warming up. But as soon as you arrive at Soda Springs the hard part starts. It is a climb of 250 meters, all most like a stairway, but made of rocks.
And of course the altitude plays a part too, so to me it was quite hard, but I made it and the view was really worth the effort. You have an excellent view on Mount Ngauruhoe. This climbs brings you up the ridge of the South Crater.
So after we enjoyed the view, we had a short descend into the crater, walked a flat part through the crater, to start the climb to the top of the Red Crater. This is a steep climb as well but better as the first climb and the fact that you know it is the final climb makes it easier. The reward is stunning. The colours and the shape of the Red Crater are unbelievable but the best view is the view on the Emerald lakes. Three aqua/emerald green blue lakes down in a grey/brown environment. To me this was the highlight of the track.

Going down is quite tricky but at the end I even enjoyed it. The lakes are a nice pick nick spot except for the sandflies, so we sat down for a little while but because the sandflies were really fond of my sweaty skin we decided not the stay very long. The track continues with a flat part and one more little climb takes you out of the crater area. A short walk along Blue Lake brings you do the beginning of the 4 hour descend. The first two hours to the Ketetahi Hut are OK. Not much stairs and you slowly go down. In the distance you have a view on Lake Rotoaira and in the far distance you can see Lake Taupo.

After the hut you still have two more hours to go. To be honest this is not the best part of the track. I thought the first 15 minutes after the hut were terrible. All rocks and you had to be real careful where to put your feet. Luckily the DOC is improving the path so the remaining part was a lot better. A lot of big steps down though, so it was a “killer” for the legs. Especially half way when you reach the forest. The path turns out to be a giant stairway. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. We were at the Ketetahi car park at 05.00 pm just in time to catch the shuttle bus back to the lodge.

Back at the lodge, we were pampered. We could use the spa bath and a BBQ diner was prepared for us. Never in my live I had four different kinds of salads. At 08.00 pm we were completely worn out, so by 08.30 pm we were in a deep sleep.