We're Doomed!

Wednesday 25th November, 2009

This was the walk that I had been waiting for since I had read about things to do on the north island - the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Tongariro National Park was the first national park to be established in New Zeland when the Maori chief back in 1887 gifted the sacred site to the nation. There are 3 big volcanic peaks in the park - the namesake, Mt Tongariro is actually the smallest at 1,968m high. Mt Ngauruhoe sits at 2,290m high and is the one which looks like you would imagine a volcano to look, red and cone shaped. It was used as Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings (fact fans!) and from now I'll refer to it as Mt Doom as it's easier to spell! The tallest peak is Mt Ruapehu at 2,797m high is imposing on the landscape with a snow covered peak for most of the year, and much to my surprise and dismay this area has been turned into a ski resort, which just seems wrong in such a sacred place (all you winter sport fans out there may disagree with me, but if you came to visit, you might change your mind!) It's actually quite a dangerous place to ski as it is one of the most active volcanoes in the world (last erupting in 1995 & 1996) - good job we weren't on our way up there today!

As we drove up to Tongariro National Park the evening before our walk we got a good idea of the visual treats we were in for. The sun was on it's way down so enhanced the red colours of the volcanoes and created some near perfect conditions for some classic pictures - even I couldn't go wrong with the camera here!

We woke up at 4:30am on the morning of our walk so that we could catch the earliest transfer to the start of the walk, and I was like a kid on Christmas Day - I couldn't wait to get on the walking track. Straight away you are walking in volcanic land with incredible views all around. By 8am we had reached the base of Mt Doom, and we were raring to get to the crater rim. The mountain is covered in scree and I had heard people saying climbing this peak was like climbing a sand dune, so I was expecting two steps forward and one big slide back. Having climbed a sand dune in Namibia a few years ago, and armed with our walking poles this time, I couldn't understand what the fuss was about (well at least to being with!) - it was hard work, but definitely seemed manageable. I soon changed my mind as we got about one third of the way up - the wind started to whip around us and we were soon lay pretty much flat against the side of the mountain scrambling up it, trying to find some sturdy rocks to hug and some shelter from the whipping wind. I think it was my steely determination (as once described by a boss at Unilever!) which got me to the crater rim - or more likely my sheer bloody-mindedness! Any which way, we eventually got to the top where I promptly found myself a little space to sit and peer into the crate rim as I was too scared to do anything other than sit there in the wind! Frank set off to snap a few photos and after a couple of minutes I started to get a little concerned of his whereabouts in the windy conditions. He soon reappeared from over the edge in tact and a little windswept!

I really thought that the hardest bit of the day was over and that getting down should be a doddle - how silly I was! After trying various techniques, we found the most effective way of getting down the scree slope was to slide as if skiing down- whilst ensuring that any inconsiderate idiots coming down behind you did not dislodge big rocks so that they came hurtling down the slope towards you...

After our side adventure we still had the majority of the crossing to complete. The crossing started to ascend a little on the way towards Mt Tongariro, and the wind continued to blow, so we found ourselves sheltering behind the few and far between rocks to stop for snacks. Much to our dismay climbing Mt Doom had taken a bit longer than anticipated so we didn't have time to make the full side trip along the ridge of his sister volcano Mt Tongariro, but we did manage a quick look along the windy ridge towards the crater rim. Our disappointment was short-lived as the next few sites were more wonders - the red crater, as per it's name but more spectacular, a huge crater with amazing red colours, and the blue lakes, beautiful blue/turquoise lakes in the middle of the volcanic region.

On our descent down the crossing, there was another big scree slope - much to my amusement I heard Frank behind me shouting "keep low, darling, keep low" in order to get down safely, the next thing I heard was silence - Frank hadn't taken his own advice and was on his bum sliding down the slope - most amusing, such a shame I missed the performance with the camera!

The final part of the walk was a bit of a race against time to get down in order to meet our transfer back to Steely, and after 11 hours of walking I was so glad to see the end of the track!

Although this was by far the most touristy walk we had done in NZ the Tongariro Alpine Crossing really was a day I won't forget and definitely in my top 3 highlights of New Zealand.

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