Photo Friday: Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand

Mar 27th, 2009 by Kristin

Like any good travel writer, I turned—where else?—to the Internet when planning my whirlwind tour of the North Island, namely to fellow bloggers and Twitter friends who have far more knowledge of New Zealand than I. And I’m glad I did—Auburn, formerly an expat living in NZ whose opinion I highly value, said (in not so many words) she’d hang me up by my toenails and sacrifice me at a Maori powhiri if I didn’t hike the Tongariro Crossing. Well, generally, when I’m traveling solo, I don’t engage in too many day treks, particularly when my time is extremely limited as it happened to be this trip. (Technically, I wasn’t exactly solo, but that’s another story for another time.) But I didn’t want to risk losing a friend I’ve still never met in real life, and in retrospect, I’m sure glad I listened to her.

So armed with my day pack and an oversupply of trail mix, I set out to tackle what is hailed as one of the world’s greatest—if not, the best—day hikes.

The hike was somewhere in the area of 20 kilometers (roughly 12 miles). That’s a lot of time spent talking to myself, let me tell you. And man was it steep in places. It takes most people in the seven-and-a-half-hour range to complete. I finished in 5:50 (and that was with a couple water stops and a half-hour lunch break with some old Kiwi men I met along the way). Guess all that running occasionally pays off.

There was an additional three-hour hike to the top of this crater (a lot taller than it looks in this picture; an additional 6,000 feet or so), but I wasn’t about to press my luck.

Since the area is very volcanic, there was a lot of scrambling over boulders to be done—my calves are killing me at the moment.

It probably comes as no surprise that my favorite part of the walk was the perfectly flat stretch that reminded me of the Arizona desert (because I’m shamelessly lazy like that).

In fact, much of the trek was strikingly similar to the American Southwest (see Arches National Park here, ha?).

Everyone—the Chateau employees, bus driver, Internets—highly advised packing warm gear. So I lugged a spare set of pants, sweater and fleece 20 kilometers. In the end, I needed a long-sleeve shirt for maybe 15 minutes of the entire day. Glad I didn’t invest in gloves like the national park worker advised.

When we neared the highest point, it began to reek of rotten eggs. OK, people, who cut the cheese? Turns out it was just a plethora of geothermal activity.

The path going down between the lakes was at about a 60-degree grade and sheer loose gravel. Guess who bit it (more than once) and slid down much of the slope on her ass much to the mixed horror, entertainment and bemusement of the fellow trekkers? The same girl with the big goose egg on her forearm and scrapes down her thigh. But, man oh man, were the views spectacular.

For almost the entire second half, I could see all of the Lake Taupo region in the distance. See, Mom, turns out I’m not always a magnet for bad weather—every single day in New Zealand has been cloudless and brilliantly sunny.

The last three kilometers were primarily downhill and through the bush. I swear it was double that distance—someone needs to go out and re-clock the path. I pretty much jogged that entire stretch, as I was just ready to be done (and also, I hadn’t seen a soul in an hour or more—I feared I’d somehow gone astray!). At the end of the day, I was pooped and fell asleep on the bus ride back to the Chateau. When we arrived, I was all prepared to jump in the pool, only to find it under construction (of course it was). So I had to wait three hours for the backpacker to return from his alpine experience and the 90-kilometer drive to Taupo before I could finally clean myself. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat (though if I were to do it over, I’d stay in one of the budget accommodations like the Skotel, as opposed to the Chateau, as the rooms there were dark and dingy and not at all worth the price). Three days later, my ass may still be cursing me, but—cliche though it may be—it’s an experience I’ll never forget. I will say this: I’m going to need one big vacation after this vacation!

**All photos taken with a Canon XTi, 17-85mm lens, 67mm filter.

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Posted in Adventure Travel, New Zealand, Photo Friday

28 Responses to “Photo Friday: Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand”

on 27 Mar 2009 at 11:35 am1Rachel

Awesome pictures! When I did the Tongariro Crossing, it was early spring and the weather was no good – we only made it halfway. (compare my pictures). For anyone reading this wishing to do the hike, my accommodation suggestion is The Park, in National Park. Yes, it’s a hostel, but one of the nicest I encountered in NZ. It mostly consists of semi-permanent residents and backpackers off the Stray bus, so to get a room you might have to book ahead. It’s got a somewhat-reasonably-priced restaurant and a hot tub! They offer services to get you to and from the Tongariro Crossing, and other destinations like Mt. Ruapehu in ski season. Dorm beds are $25-$30, depending on the season.
on 27 Mar 2009 at 11:39 am2KatieBug

Man, you have now officially given me the hiking bug…although I’m only going to get an hour or so away from home here in the great Northwest…thanks for the inspiration! Lovely pics!
on 27 Mar 2009 at 12:01 pm3SoniaBonia

Arches National Park was exactly what I thought when I saw those pictures, with a dash of Yellowstone, as it appears!
on 27 Mar 2009 at 12:32 pm4Angella

I seriously want your life. Just for a week. I know I keep saying that, but it’s TRUE.
on 27 Mar 2009 at 12:58 pm5The Global Traveller

A nice report on the great day hike. The reason everyone recommends plenty of warm clothing on Tongariro Crossing is that every year people get rescued with hypothermia when they get caught out by sudden bad weather. Being in the mountains, weather can turn bad at any time.
on 27 Mar 2009 at 1:13 pm6Lori Barbely

Abso-freaking-lutely amazing!
on 27 Mar 2009 at 2:31 pm7Hollylynne

WOW! How amazing does that look?!?! The acid green lakes look almost photoshopped . . . they’re gorgeous!
on 27 Mar 2009 at 5:01 pm8ummmmheyyyy

The lakes are ALIEN-bright. & I agree with what you said – even the foliage looks similar to Arizona’s!
on 27 Mar 2009 at 7:58 pm9k

so pretty! i plan on doing some research in NZ next summer and this will become a must do!

fyi – I think the color of the lakes is due to all the sediment in it (at least that is why lakes are that pretty milky color here in the pac nw)
on 29 Mar 2009 at 8:47 am10Dominique

Yup, the geothermal pools reminded me of Yellowstone, too!

Amazing scenery and trip. NZ has always been one of the top places on my travel wish list…thanks for giving me this little virtual taste of the place.
on 29 Mar 2009 at 6:35 pm11Susan

who knew geothermal activity smelled of rotten eggs. those views are amazing!
on 29 Mar 2009 at 8:55 pm12Gaelyn

That was a well recomended hike. Great post and captures. I feel like I went along, and my ass hurts.
on 30 Mar 2009 at 12:56 pm13NYer in NZ

SO glad you did this (and did I not tell you to stay at Skotel…)! You reminded me that I need to finish my own post of our adventure climbing it in dresses. It blows my mind to see it clear, since we were bundled up and trudging through snow at times, but you did have some good weather karma on your side. And yes, I swear, the last 3KM were some of the longest in my life and my knees felt like an eighty-year-old woman!
on 10 Apr 2009 at 7:28 am14marina k. villatoro

What amazing pictures. I soooo don’t know that part of the world. I’m dying to go there and see eveyrthing!! it looks so amazing, and untouched in many ways.
The Travel Expert(a) and an Expat with a Twist
on 10 Apr 2009 at 8:21 am15Beth Whitman

Really spectacular. I long for the peace and quiet that these photos evoke.
on 10 Apr 2009 at 6:37 pm16Jen@Heading North after Naptime

What beautiful photos. My hiking husband is ready to pack our bags!
on 10 Apr 2009 at 8:04 pm17Lorraine

Stunning photographs. Thanks for the inspiration (and good work on that hike!)
on 11 Apr 2009 at 11:03 am18Peter Carey

I love the story! Thanks for taking us along. It also reminds me of some of the volcanic lands in Southern Oregon
on 21 Apr 2009 at 12:26 am19Breakaway

Great photos! Being 74++, I don’t intend taking this hike, unless someone is carrying me. Any spare llamas?
on 24 Apr 2009 at 12:47 am20Caitlin

New Zealand is made for hiking – or ‘tramping’ as the Kiwis call it.
on 24 Apr 2009 at 8:22 am21Monna

Thanks for taking us along on this extraordinary journey (minus the bumps and bruises ! The photos are fantastic. We are moving to Bangkok in July and, along with our excitement about living in South East Asia, we are also really looking forward to affordable flights to Australia and New Zealand.
on 24 Apr 2009 at 2:41 pm22Debbie Dubrow

It was great to live through you for a few minutes with this article and pictures! What a great story.
on 24 Apr 2009 at 6:55 pm23Mara

I’m definitely jealous both of the trip to NZ and the ability to go on a twelve-mile day hike – it’s going to be a little while before I can do that again. You did a great job of describing it and I love the photos too.
on 01 May 2009 at 9:22 am24Jessie Voigts

really cool travel photos!! it looks so magnificent there, like the sky and land go on forever. that lake was so blue. wow!
on 01 May 2009 at 9:32 pm25wandermom

OMG, what a great hike!
I’m not sure if my children will ever speak to me if I take them on a full-day hike like this one, but I’m putting it on my to-do list anyway
on 09 May 2009 at 8:27 pm26amida

New Zealand is definitely on my list of “places I want to visit someday”. That hike looks awesome!
on 16 Nov 2009 at 9:47 am27mico santos

Nice photos:) cheers
on 06 Feb 2010 at 5:01 am28Dan

One quick correction – Ngauruhoe is only 1100 feet higher than Tongariro. Only the tallest peak in NZ (Aoraki Mt Cook, South Island) is 6000 feet higher!

I’ve been over the crossing twice and didn’t even realise you could see Lake Taupo like that on a fine day, brilliant photos and you really did luck out with the weather. Maybe I’ll have to go once more…