Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Today we had a long-feared trip! The Tongariro Crossing is a 19.4km long track through the mountains, past volcanoes and lakes. We read a lot about it in advance, especially comments from people who have already done this hike. Although everyone agreed that it is totally worth the effort, they also agreed that it is very strenuous, requires being fit and is only suitable for experienced mountaineers. Since this doesn't necessarily apply to us, we were unsure whether we really want to do it, but then we decided to do it after all.

We got up very early in the morning, as we first parked our car at the end point of the hike and then booked the earliest shuttle that would take us to the starting point.

At around 7 am we arrived at the start and after admiring the sunrise, the adventure could begin!

First, the trail led through relatively flat terrain for about an hour, past small rivers, interesting vegetation, and waterfalls, always with the volcano in sight.

We spent the next hour climbing the so-called 'Devils Staircase', a steep and uneven staircase that lived up to its name, and finally reached the end of this staircase and thus the foot of the volcano.

While us girls were too lazy, Thomas decided to climb the volcano, which is another 3-hour, very challenging hike.

Meanwhile, we continued on our way towards the summit of the original hike. The trail first took us through a wide plain and then up a steep, rocky path, and then we finally reached the summit!! The view from the top was truly beautiful and we were really glad to have the climb behind us. After a short rest, we continued to the 'Red Crater' and admired an impressive volcanic crater and the view.

Then there was a short descent to the Emerald Lakes, three sulfur lakes with unique water colors. The descent was more difficult than expected because it was a sandy and very steep path, making it easy to slip and we also saw some people fall, which didn't exactly give us a safe feeling, but we managed this task without major damage and so we arrived tired but unharmed at the lakes where we decided to have our lunch break and wait for Thomas.

After a quite long break and after Thomas joined us again and told us about his hike, we decided to start the descent. This first led past another lake and then through fields, bushes, and forests.

The descent was very tiring, as the landscape didn't change much anymore, we were all pretty tired, and we had to walk downhill for over 3 hours until we finally arrived back at the car.