Whakapapa Village and a long walk

We head to Mount Ruapehu which is an active volcano in the Tongariro National Park. In the winter this area is a ski resort and is main ski area in the North Island. Most recently it erupted in 1996, closing the ski fields for the winter and is also subject to lahars, the last one being in 2007. There was also an eruption that year. I tried not to think about this while staying at the Skotel which is on the lower slopes of the volcano!! The other 2 volcanos beside it are Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngaurahoe (if you are a Lord of the Rings fan then this is otherwise known as Mount Doom!). We are here to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

So the next morning we are up very early and get transported to the start of the walk at Mangatepopo car park. It is a bit cloudy but not cold so it is pretty good walking conditions. The book said it is a very popular one day walk in New Zealand but I don't think we were really prepared for the bus loads of people who were being deposited on to the track - it was nearly as busy as Oxford Street just before Christmas!!

The first part is to Soda Springs and a gentle climb. The stream here is also featured in LOTR where Golum is seen fishing. From Soda Springs we start the climb up to the South Crater rising from 1400m to 1600m up a staircase! From the South Crater we carry on to Red Crater and the wind by now is really strong and you feel like you are going to be blown off the top! The cloud is moving quickly so views are being revealed and then hidden again, but what we can see is spectacular. We then have one last climb up before beginning our descent which starts with a long walk down the scoria slope, slipping and sliding down with the crowds! But the hard work is rewarded by the amazing views of the Emerald Lakes. We then start a long walk down the winding path where the landscape is now covered with tussock grass before descending into native bush and we see the first trees for a long time. The whole walk takes us 7 hours with a few stops for food and picture taking and is a total of 19.4km long. I have to say my legs do ache a bit when I finish!