Tongariro! Tongariro! Part 2.

Mt. Ngauruhoe

This is taken from the other side of Mt. Ngauruhoe. Its an absolute BEAST, and even as we were looking back at it, I was like, I don't believe we just climbed that monster. Ughhh so crazy. It was so tough. There's something beautifully eerie about barren volcanic land. I love it. You really need to experience it to understand I think. It's amazing, everything is so calm, and quiet...

It was 2.30pm at this point, and we were not even half way through the trek yet. The map said another 4-5hrs at least so there was concern that we wouldn't finish before dark. We were the last ones from the group who set out at 8.30am. Even the guys with the big 60l packs were in front of us. One of the girls (Hi Michal) was on a diet so she had only eaten vegetables the night before. She just needed a piece of bread. I would have been struggling (a lot more) if I didn't have any carbs for fuel.

Okay, onwards! There was another steep rise, it was one of the last ones. We could see a lake from the top of Ngauruhoe so we already knew what was waiting ahead. I kept looking back at Ngauruhoe, and felt a real sense of accomplishment. It already looked so far away. I think all the waiting at the bottom of Ngauruhoe had drained spirits a little. Maybe we were getting tired? I dug out my iPod, and put on some music which gave me a lift. Dancing along.

The red crater was waiting at the top. It's great that there's something at the top to make you go whoaaaa. The emerald lakes are here too. The colours were unreal. Our bus driver at the beginning of the day said there was a lot of sulphur in these pools, and advised us not to swim in them. One of the 60l guys put his pack down, and went towards the water to have a closer look. Then he dipped his hands in, and cupped up some water. Maybe I should have said something to him? His hands were still there when they came back out so nae danger! He was cupping them like he wanted to wash his face though. I think I would have cried out then. Wow, imagine if his hands had melted off... There were helicopters circling the area during our climb up Ngauruhoe but I didn't notice them in the late afternoon. I don't actually know what happens when sulphur touches the skin so I might be speaking rubbish.

Emerald lakes

Not bad. Colours were amazing. The smaller one behind had red around its edge. Not bad at all.

Mt. Ngauruhoe, and the smoking red crater

Clear lake

From here, we followed a path along a cliff edge... The descent was coming up, I could sense it. The bus driver had warned us it was the hardest part, and my memories from Aso, in Japan reminded me that going downhill is rubbish. Constantly catching yourself.

Lake Taupo in the background

Nil at this point had raced ahead because he was fed up of waiting. What really peeved me a little was that the path down would wind from one side to the other. If they just made it straight DOWN, fine. Or maybe not... but I hope you can understand my stress. I could just see the path weaving from one side to the other. We were probs about 8.5hrs into the trek at the point. I wanted to sit down again. And then the path took us up some steps, I was like, what is going on?!?! We're going down!! Meanwhile, Nil had reached the hut, and we could see him. Also apparently the hills are alive with echoes, and the man in front of us could hear everything we were talking about. We were talking about tampons. One of the girls thought Scotland would not have applicator tampons, (we do) but yes random chat, I agree.

This is the view back up. Ngauruhoe, the emerald lakes, the red crater are all behind that mountain. My snacks were finished, I was tired, and my feet hurt but we still had like 1.5hrs of downhill left. There is a hut on the way down with 20 bunks but a crazy wind up there. We pushed on through.

The end of the trek goes through woodland so we had to hurry before it got dark. We only had one torch if it came to that so we had to move on. Down, down hill. It felt like a couple of my toe nails were going to fall off. I wish I had some sort of sponge at the top of my shoes to cushion the constant downward walking.

The forest walk lasts forever!! I thought it was a trap, walking through this woodland forever, the path to nowhere. We did see some deer, or apparently horses are more common in the woods though. We scared them so didn't get to say hi.

It felt so good to come back into the clearing. Our car was still there, phew, apparently there is lots of crime in these car parks. Only 3 cars left so we weren't the last ones after all. I was completely drained at this point. I took my shoes straight off to check my toe nails were still there, and did some stretching while we waited for the others.

We were a colourful team. Nil was not colourful enough to make it. He did make it, just not into the photo. I think he took this photo. Photo by Nil on Annie Leavitt's camera!

Tongariro Crossing (click for the track). One of the best things I've done to date.

All photos by Sue Tsang, unless otherwise stated.