Tongariro Alpine Crossing (New Zealand Part 4)

Whakaputaina: 19.12.2018

Ohauru ki te Panui

Beforehand, we had heard in Germany about the hike that is promoted as the most beautiful one-day hike in New Zealand. Therefore, we planned to go to Tongariro National Park after our stay in Taupo. However, the weather forecast for the upcoming days was unfortunately so bad that we were already thinking about alternative routes. But then at our campsite, we saw an advertisement for a shuttle to Tongariro Crossing. So we spontaneously decided to extend our stay in Taupo for one more night and, as long as the weather was supposed to be good, take the hike.

At 5 o'clock, the shuttle bus departed, which was supposed to take us to the starting point at an altitude of 1100 meters. Still a bit tired, we started on our 19.4 km long way.

At first, it was quite foggy, but the path was still wide and flat through a volcanic landscape.

Then it went steeply uphill and the clouds moved in. The wind picked up more and more, so that when we reached the highest point at 1886 meters on the Red Crater, we were properly blown away.

The fog only cleared sporadically. But as we started the descent on the other side, it cleared up more and more and we had a nice view of several lakes.

The ground was quite loose, so everyone slid more than walked. But finally, we arrived at the first lake, from which there was a distinct smell of sulfur.

We walked around the lakes a bit before we started the short ascent to Blue Lake.

Blue Lake was the largest of the lakes and we settled down on its shore for our lunch break.

At the lake's edge, we also saw a seagull, which was mainly looking for leftovers from the hikers rather than food from the lake.

Blue Lake

From then on, it was mostly downhill. During the descent, we had to overcome a greater difference in altitude than during the ascent, as the pick-up point was at an altitude of 750 meters.

The descent took a long time, but we saw a completely different landscape.

Finally, the vegetation became denser and we walked through a forest with ferns and a stream (with a bridge where only five people were allowed at a time...).