Tramping The Tongariro Alpine Crossing

At 7am on the Wednesday morning we left the Plateau Lodge and piled into the Shuttle Bus, which would take us to the Mangatepopo Car Park, our starting point for the Tongariro Crossing. We did so with what could only be described as anxious enthusiasm as we were mindful of how weather conditions could abruptly change bringing possibly poor visibility, sudden storms or high wind chill. The World Heritage Tongariro National Park is dominated by three active volcanoes,  Mount Ruapeka, Mount Ngauruhoe and our own particular challenge,  the 1968 metre Mount Tongariro. The whole region itself is the result of multiple volcanic eruptions over 300,000 years. We commenced the walk on a fairly low gradient at approximately 1400 metres until we reached the foot of the steep Tongariro saddle and the numerous ascents and descents began as we made our laboured way up to the rim of the Red Crater, the highest point of the trek. The views from the Red Crater are surreal. There is no vegetation whatsoever and one sees such incredible sights as moonscape basins, steaming vents, hot springs, old lava flows, treacherous scree slopes on which slithering rapidly in semi-control is the only way down and, of course,  the brilliant colours of the aptly named Emerald and Blue Lakes. The Red Crater gets its name from the stunning red colours caused by the oxidation of iron in the volcanic rock. The smell of sulphur dioxide or "rotten egg gas" as we used to call it emanating from the steam vents was very pronounced there. The lower slopes before reaching the finish of the Crossing at the Ketataki Car Park are covered with a welcoming leafy forest,  which is also the habitat of many native birds including short and long tailed bats. We had started this trek, which took us seven and a quarter hours, with some trepidation but with determination, will power and, of course, teamwork and encouragement we had not only completed one of New Zealand's premier mountain walks but we had done so with style. Tired, but with a great feeling of accomplishment, we piled into our own van and drove back to our digs at the Juno Hall Backpackers where we would stay for a couple of nights.