Tongariro Crossing – Fancy a Walk on the Moon
The 12 mile Tongariro Crossing is considered to the best hike in New Zealand and deservedly so! This hike has you on the top of Red Crater watching the sun rise in unique lighting and with the peaceful, still, quiet moments of the dawn and we usually have the luxury of few other walkers and the place mostly to ourselves. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing starts at the Mangatepopo Valley and the first 2 hours of the trek is an upward gentle gradient to Soda Springs. The track leads up to the Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe saddle and it is steep which is why this section is taken slowly to ensure we all enjoy the spectacle and scenery. At the South Crater we take a break and photos and then we then traverse up the side of Tongariro to the famous Red Crater summit. After taking in the view of the active Red Crater with the Otarere and Rangipo deserts in the background, we descend to the Emerald Lakes for lunch, refreshments and a well-earned break. From here we divert up and over Mt Tongariro to its summit which offers a great photo opportunity of the Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu peaks. Once you are at the top of a mountain, the only way off it is downhill and because the main throng of walkers have already passed through, we take the main track back over Mt Ngauruhoes pyroclastic flows with sunset views of Mt Taranaki, 150 kms away. We are now back at Mangatepopo and the finish.