The weekend brought amazing weather for NZ, warm, sunny and clear skies. Add a friend I met in Fiji and her friend (both Yanks) + a 20km, 8 hour tramp along the Tongariro Crossing and that is my weekend in a nut shell.
Tongariro National Park was the 4th Park in the world to become an National Park. It ws the first National Park in the world to be gifted by the country's indigenous peoples. The area is famous for Mt Ruapehu - the highest point in the North Island, Ngauruhoe - famous for it's appearance in Lord of the Rings as Mount Doom and lastly there is Mt Tongariro. All three mountains are active volcanoes. Last year a guy lost his legs when a boulder was spat out of, I think, Mt Ruapehu.
The Tongariro Crossing is considered one of NZ's Great Walks and considered one of the best day walks in NZ. I had an awesome time, it was an amazing landscape - from barren Mars like to lush forrest. There was steam seeping through the pores of the Earth, the ground was warm to touch, there was snow and abrupt mountains of Volcanoes! Downside... heaps of people, I love my nature space to be sparce of people. There were rare times where the only sound were our boots rattling the volcanic rock.
Well, some pictures I hear...
Mt Tongariro off picture to the right, the steep Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu tucked under cloud in the background.
Steam seeping from the Earth and, yep, me
Emerald Lakes
Classic!
Nothing but rock and snow!
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