ቶንጋሪዮ ምሕላፍ - ካልኣይ

Hello everyone,

Here I am again. As the title of the post suggests, we attempted the Tongario Crossing again on October 14th. Since our last attempt was unfortunately unsuccessful, we made a different plan this time. Instead of booking a shuttle, we planned to drive directly to the starting point and hike from there to the highest point, maybe a bit further, and then turn around. One reason was to save money on the shuttle, and the other reason was to be more flexible and not start if the weather was bad.

When we woke up, I was sure that it was a good decision because it was damp and cloudy, just like last time... memories of wet feet and cold wind immediately came to mind. But since we had already woken up at 5:15 am, we drove to the starting point. And that was the best decision. On the way to the starting point, the weather cleared up a bit, and we could see the sunrise tinting the clouds pink. That alone was worth seeing. But when we arrived at the starting point and the sun shone on us, I was so overwhelmed that I started walking without my hiking boots. Luckily, I noticed that after a few meters so I could change my shoes. And then we started. We were both amazed at how beautiful the landscape was and what we had missed last time due to the fog and clouds. However, due to the wide view, I could also see how high we still had to climb, which was sometimes a bit demotivating for me, but then I just stopped and admired the beautiful landscape, and then it became easy again. We were so lucky with the weather that we could even see Mt Taranaki in New Plymouth, simply impressive. After about two hours, we reached the point where we had to turn around last time, and we were simply impressed by everything we couldn't see last time. The spot where our boots learned to swim, especially Lina's, was dry this time, and we could admire all the surrounding mountains. Then we climbed the next incline to the Red Crater. It was simply incredible how red the earth and stones were in this crater and how far you could see. The wind was quite strong at this point, and we had to climb the steepest part of the hike. I say climb because we had to hold on to ropes and chains and climb up loose stones. But the view from the highest point of the hike was simply breathtakingly beautiful. We could admire the Blue Lake and the Emerald Lakes and look as far as Lake Taupo, which stretched across the entire horizon. I don't think I'll ever forget this view in my life. After taking an incredible number of photos, we sat down at the edge of the trail and enjoyed our lunch with this amazing view. Then it was unfortunately time to turn around and walk back to the car. But the way back was also beautiful because we could admire some things from completely new perspectives. After about 6 hours and 11 minutes, we arrived back at the car and had covered about 19.7 km and climbed to a height of 1900m (although we didn't start at sea level, but at around 1100m). I was incredibly proud of us, and I think we both were beaming with joy.

After a short break, we drove back to Taupo where we stayed in the same hostel again. After checking in, we went to the hot pools from last time in the good old way. However, I was quite surprised to find the pools transformed this time. The river had carried much more water this time and completely submerged the lower pools. This meant that the pools were not as warm as last time. Or rather, there were a lot more cold spots compared to last time. But it was still very nice. In the hot pools, we met a girl from Germany named Lina who had also come to New Zealand alone. We talked for a while and then arranged to meet for a drink in the evening. Back at the hostel, we showered and ate delicious giant pizzas. They were so big that each of us could only eat half a pizza. But that was okay, cold pizza is great to eat the next day. At around 8 pm, the three of us met and went to a bar where we had a few drinks and continued chatting. Due to the long and exhausting day, we went back to the hostel and went to bed relatively early.

That's all for this day. I'm so glad that, as Lina beautifully put it, we bet against the odds and were rewarded with sunny weather and a beautiful hike. I can only urge everyone to do this hike, but only if the weather is good, as you can only enjoy all the beautiful views then. And if I can do it, anyone can do this hike.

That's it for now. In the next post, I will tell you about our trip to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, our walk through the Redwood Forest, and another stroll through Rotorua.

Until then,

Yours, Jessi