We left Lake Waikaremoana and headed to the Tongariro National Park to start our second New Zealand Great Walk. An uneventful trip, no flat tires this time:).
We didn’t stop at the thermal spring pools outside of Rotorua, but we did stop by the mud pools at Waiotapu. Pretty “cool”, well very hot. Bubbling mud, shooting up in the air at temperatures around 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), so no one bathing here. People were complaining about the sulphur smell, but hey, we are from Florida, the land of sulphur smelling well/irrigation water…so no big annoyance for us.
We drove by enormous Lake Taupo, a freshwater lake that lies in the caldera of the Taupo Volcano. It was formed by a super volcanic eruption 26,500 years ago…believed to be the largest volcanic eruption on earth in the last 70,000 years.
We arrived at Whakaapa Holiday Park for a couple night stay. It was a nice cabin to rest up for our next Great Walk of four days and three nights in the “luxurious” huts.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, it was recommended we NOT do the trek. Winds in some places over the next couple days were expected to be as high as 150 kph, or 90 mph. So we decided to take it easy, explore the area, and do the one day 19.4k Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This one day crossing is the most stunning part of this Great Walk.
I left our warm accommodation at 7 am to be dropped at the start of the Alpine Crossing. The weather here changes quickly in this mountainous volcanic area. It started out as sunny, then clouds rolled in near Mt Ngauruhe. (Mt. Doom) just after passing by it. Mt. Ngauruhe was used as a “stand-in” for the fictional Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then as the hike continued, the clouds cleared for a moment, just long enough to see the incredible beautimous Emerald Lake and Blue Lakes.
The trek revealed so many different landscape types that have resulted from the volcanic region. The trek included passing by a hut no longer in use that had a boulder launched through its roof in a 2012 eruption of Mt. Tongariro. Luckily no one was in the hut at the time!
Legs are tired tonight after a steep ascent today over 19.8 km! We had a nice dinner, lamb, chowder and calamari before retiring to prep for our 4 hour drive to New Zealand’s capital of Wellington.
See below for a few more pics from this trip!
Hey tramping buddies ?. Shame about the weather curtailing your Northern Circuit sector but always good to err on the side of caution in those parts. Pleased to see the beautiful Crossing with its Emarald & Blue Lakes putting on a nice show for you guys – that’s definitely a highlight aye? Enjoy your journey through the middle of the island down to our capital. Wellingtons waterfront is gorgeous when the suns out and Te Papa has some impressive displays, especially on Gallipoli (the scale of our war). Our funny ole Parliament building – The Beehive ? is worth a look as is the cable car ride up to Kelburn (a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising 120m).
We missed you tonight when we had a Reeves, Ebert, Charles gathering. We looked back over photo and video footage of the Waikaremoana trek. You both featured many a time and were talked about fondly.
Until the next update, take care guys & have fun in Wellington. Shellie, Mark & kids x
Would have been great to join you all! Had a great sunny day yesterday…took the cable car up to the Botanical Gardens. Thanks for the great ideas, lot to do the next couple weeks here. Already eating our way down Cuba St! Come tramp the South Island with us!
I continue to be overwhelmed by your amazing journey and continue to be relieved that you are both well and happy! Having such a great time traveling with you! oxox
Very nice! We have just recovered from your last Tramp. Great scenery!