Pictures of the Tongariro Crossing
The tongariro crossing, famed as being the greatest one day hike in New Zealand.
‘Mount Ruapehu’
There is a nice campsite fairly close to point where you catch the bus to the start. The great thing about this site is it is the only place I have ever been to that has an evacuation plan in case of lava flow. Needless to say I parked in the spot which was marked green on the map instead of the bright orange. Well you never know!
‘Volcanic lanscape’
‘The view right at the very start’
‘The end of the first climb’
The thing with the Tongariro crossing is you need to start early, now I’m not an early bird so this was unusual.
The alarm goes off at ’stupid o’clock’ in the morning. I get up and sneak around, fearing that I was the only one up at this ridiculous time in the morning. I knew this was going to be a long walk so I double up on the toast and cereal. I creep out the campervan to have a shower to be greeted by a sea of people mulling around the camp site, the shower block was full. Had my watch stopped, was this really 5:45am, sure enough it was.
‘You really you know you are walking on a volcano’
‘The top’
‘The red crater’
‘Red Crater’
I wander down to the bus stop, camera bag in toe I had reduced my usually number of lenses down to just 2. With my lunch and extra snacks, my bag weighed quite a lot but I was determined.
For a few quid the bus will pick you up and drop you of at the start of the track, then 8 hours later come and get you at the end. The drivers are very good, they count you off and count you back on at the end of the day. They will send out a rescue party to get you should you wander off.
‘Down in the crater’
Because of the length of the walk 7-8 hours all the buses turn up at the same time, usually all before 8 am. You are quite safe walking alone, as there are so many people walking together. During the summer there is quite an ant trail of people stretching out over the landscape.
‘Emerald Lake’
‘A good spot for lunch’
‘Emerald Lake’
The walk goes up 2400ft and down 3600ft, there is a good reason why people start at the one end and not the other. In total it’s about 12 miles long. The route covers three volcanoes, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro, these were donated by the local Maori to state of New Zealand to ’be of all the people’.
‘The view on the other side’
The first part of the route takes you up to Red Crater. This first section is baron and volcanic it’s a fasinating landscape. This first section served as the film set for Lord of the Rings, Mt Ruapehu was used as Mount Doom.
After leaving the Red crater, the Emerald lakes come into view, the decent is a little tricky as it is a scree slope, but is a welcome change from the steep uphill getting to the crater.
‘The view to the top’
After the volcanoes, the route goes a little more gentle down hill. The landscape is stunning all the way through the walk.
A little tip to carry lots of water, there is no oppurtunity until about 2/3 the way through too refill your water bottle.
‘The welcome view of the end sign’
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