Thursday 27^th. March. 

Today the Tongariro Crossing: 19.4 km. 1000 metres ascent. 1400 metres descent.

It’s an early start as I am booked on the first shuttle bus of the day at 7.00am in the hope of getting ahead of the hordes. As I wait for the bus with fellow guests it is still dark, but the skies are clear and we can see the Southern Cross. There is frost on the cars and grass as dawn begins to break. There is no wind: Yet?

The shuttle bus service also act as safety advisors and watchdog. Dave the driver checks the forecast on mobile phone and warns that 65 km/hour winds are expected. The windchill forecast had been minus 8˚C, but with clear skies the sun will mitigate that. If low cloud and rain were forecast they would have shut the service down, but he books us in, and we will be booked out on our return; any not accounted for at the end of the day will be searched for.

In ½ an hour we are at the start, there are a lot of cars and a handful of small buses in the car park: There are a lot of buses in this business, and they all will of course keep shuttling back and forth to here for an hour or two, and then later in the day do so from the pickup point.

Dawn has broken but the sun is behind Mount Tongariro and at 1120 metres it is cold as we set off, but there is still no wind.

We are heading for the col at a distance of 6km. and height of 1660 metres, through a very sparsely vegetated landscape.

 

As we climb we can look back to the west and see the other big volcano, Mount Taranaki: 85 miles away.

 

We then drop down into the South Crater where there is sign of vegetation trying to take hold, and the colours from black to white and every conceivable variation of grey, brown and ochre is quite staggeringly beautiful: this place must be an artists dream. Towering over us to the south is the black, grey and red cone of Mount Ngauruhoe at 2287 metres, which some people climb. It looks like a giant slag heap, so after my experience on Taranaki I have no intention of following them, but I was told a couple of days later that it was not as bad as Taranaki. The wind begins to hit as we climb the ridge formed by the South Crater Rim and a few people are turning back or on hands and knees: not really necessary.

I take the opportunity to climb Mount Tongariro itself at 1967 metres, a relatively gentle ascent, and very rewarding as a climb, and for the views.

Mount Tongariro  from the South Crater Ridge

Having returned from Mount Tongariro the wind increases as we follow the ridge formed by the Red Crater and then descend the Central Crater Ridge to the Emerald and Blue Lakes. The wind is at its strongest here and the descent ridge you see in the photo is a serious piece of scree. The wind caught me out once mid step, and a ball bearing bit of scree had me down again, but I was prepared for such eventualities, so no problem.

 

 

Looking down the descent from the Red Crater

 

Looking back at the descent from the highest point of the Red Crater

Ngauruhoe in the Background

As we climb out of the Central Crater, the wind drops again. Just before the descent proper there is a Red Flashing Beacon and a sign saying that if it is flashing there is new volcanic activity and you must turn back to the start: 11 km. and that ridge to reclimb! It is being closely monitored, and the authorities are ready to close the track at a moment’s notice. Thank God they are only doing a test and a survey. It is now 7km. to the finish as we skirt the North Crater and start the final descent to 760 metres through increasing vegetation from sparse grass, to struggling brush, to small White Beech Bush.

I have now fallen into step and conversation with Philipp Stangl a young German Doctor. He and his wife have 9 weeks Maternity & Paternity Leave between them, and are spending it all in a campervan in New Zealand. She and their now 2 sons are doing a smaller round the lake walk a few kilometres away. 

A little way down I notice a pair of nice pink small gloves that look as though they have only recently been left, and as everyone does this walk in this direction, I pick them up to see if we, who are moving quite fast, can catch the owner. Two hundred metres further on a young couple ask us to take their photo with their camera (a very common occurrence in NZ) and it turns out that Lauren is the owner of the gloves: so once again I come to a maiden’s rescue. Also another coincidence, Lauren and Dan are from Nottingham, and Dan is a parachutist who has skydived from Hibaldstow Club on my neighbour’s farm, and therefore knows Baldrick (ref: Blackadder) who works at the Club – real name Shane –  and who is my Stockman’s son.

 

 

Lauren and Dan

We pass between 2 areas of volcanic activity

This is the most recent that closed the Track for a while in 2012

 

Philip Stangl at the end of the walk just before I catch the bus back home.

 

Also on the Track that day were 2 guests from the Chateau who befriended me at Dinner and invited me to have coffee with them afterwards: when you are travelling singly this happens all the time. Nancy & Stephen are from Vancouver and I enjoy their company tremendously as we chatter away a couple of hours; especially as Nancy is very pretty and has a captivating smile. Nancy is a nurse and Stephen works in the development of wind energy sites. Stephen climbed the conical volcano Mount Ngauruhoe, leaving Nancy to fill the time pottering about. Had I known I could have kept her company. I also wish I had taken their photo for this Blog. They are going to look at the Blog, so very many thanks Stephen and Nancy, and Best Wishes.