Day 27 Whakapapa and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Day 27 Whakapapa and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The village where we’re staying is called Whakapapa…..in Maori, ‘Wh’ is pronounced like an English ‘F’ – so it caused some hilarity and I think I might just call it Mordor….

The main activity for today – and it did take most of the day – was to trek the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, “the best one-day walk in New Zealand” – that crosses a field of active volcanoes.  There was an eruption not long ago that reshaped the crater rim, so it has become even more challenging than it used to be.  It was quite a day….one of the more strenuous walks we have ever done – particularly given the 38kph winds, rain and fog.  We climbed past Soda Springs to South Crater, and crossed the moon-like basin.  It was quite eerie when you couldn’t see any trekkers in front or behind. We then climbed up to Red Crater (1886m)….at one point grasping on to metal chains to pull ourselves up the near vertical rocks, the wind trying its best to blow us off the edge.  The thick fog meant that we missed the spectacular views of ‘Mount Doom’ on the ascent….We were ever so lucky that having descended the steep scree slope at the far side of Red Crater (Imagine that you were skiing and lost your skis….it was like walking down a narrow powdery slope in ski boots – with several hundred metre drops on either side…) to the Emerald Lakes for lunch, the fog lifted for the spectacular views on the way across the saddle and down.  The area is still active. One path was bordered by geothermally heated rocks and vents – and you could see the steam rising from other craters along the saddle. There were signs that told you if you were entering a particularly dangerous bit….”Do not remain in this area.  If you hear a noise from up the mountain, do not enter this area.” They only needed to add…”If it does erupt, you won’t even have time to pray…..”  Even so, there was still snow on some of the less active slopes on the southern face.  We had to walk across one patch – not quite glacier trekking, but close.

Anyway, a quite amazing day – the walk ended with 5km through a beautiful forest….and when we returned to our hotel, the cloud finally lifted enough for a spectacular view of Mount Doom (Mt Ngauruhoe).