#turangi

Jeff, Greg, and I, otherwise known as “American Magic”, drove down to Tūrangi for the long weekend. Tūrangi is at the southern end of Lake Taupo along the Tongariro River. The reason for this trip was to do the Tongariro crossing before it got too cold to climb.

We left work early on Friday and made it to Hamilton in time for dinner. There, we got high quality and low cost Indian food. Before leaving, we dropped into Pak’nSave to obtain our groceries for the trip. A few hours and a few good chats later, we were in Tūrangi.

We had a slow Saturday morning beginning with us drinking our tea/coffee from the cozy window nook while admiring the fall trees. For brekkie, Jeff made us some some eggs, Jeff Sun-ny side up. Eventually, we made it to the bike store to get rentals for the Tongariro Rover Trail.

What I envisioned to be a casual bike ride was actually a low-grade mountain biking trail. I struggled quite a bit to get through the sections with tight turns but it was worth it. We got some incredible views of the river and surrounding neighbourhood.

Afterwards, we were famished, so we popped into town to grab a snack. There, we spotted a few members of the Mongrel Mob having a picnic. Jeff kept an eye on them until we left safely.

When we got back to the house, Jeff and Greg grabbed an assortment of balls and went to the park next door. I sat in a hammock and read my book while the boys played. When I got too cold, I joined them in a dual frisbee/soccer toss around. Then, we moved on to American football. I got to be the quarterback on both teams and had a great time strategizing and practicing my throws.

We went inside when it got dark and made pasta to carb-load for the big hike. After dinner, we binge-watched Gloriavale which is a docuseries about an uber-Christian cult on the South Island.

We woke up before sunrise so we could start The Crossing early. Greg dropped me and Jeff off at the start of the hike and then drove to the end to park the car and shuttle back. Meanwhile, at the base, the Department of Conservation rangers were warning people not to do the hike due to weather conditions. I was disappointed. We had researched and prepared for the conditions, but I didn’t want to do it if it was going to be dangerous. I asked the rangers for suggestions of other, safer hikes we could attempt. Jeff had other ideas. He was confident that we should go for it.

As we sat there making our decision, I saw more and more people walk past us to start the hike. About 1/4th of the people that showed up turned back, but these were the ones wearing shorts and holding a single water bottle. Slowly, I got more and more confident with my 5 layers and backpack full of provisions. We decided to go for it.

The hike began with a chill boardwalk stroll through a valley surrounded by lava rocks and scattered vegetation. Greg caught up with us a little over an hour after we started as we approached Soda Springs, a small waterfall which was a 5 minute detour from the track.

Soon, we began our ascent up South Crater. The skies were grey and misty, so we didn’t get much of a view but we continued trekking. The trail transitioned into a spooky flatland which we all appreciated.

Eventually, we made it to the base of Red Crater. There, we saw a few people turning back and felt the wind speeds pick up. Jeff didn’t let me listen to the people explaining why they cut their hike short - we were committed. We sent it up the active volcano, tailwind at our backs, and a constant drizzle surrounding us. The weather conditions made it quite an adventure.

At the top of the crater, a neighboring hiker told us it was a shame that the visibility was so low, as the Emerald Lakes would have been in sight. We carefully walked down the scree slope and stopped midway down to have a snack. Instantly, the sky opened up and unveiled the mineral-rich waters. With the effort and uncertainty surrounding the trek, the view felt all the more special.

Too cold to stay any longer, we continued our trek down. We got to the Blue Lake and again, the sky opened up and we were able to sneak pictures of it as if it was a perfect day. On the other side of the mountain we experienced increasingly pleasant weather and a variety of landscapes from ridge walks to rainforest.

At the end of the hike, Greg peeled off and power walked so he could go the extra km to grab the car for us. We were all proud of ourselves for what we had accomplished. It truly was one of the best hikes I’ve ever done, and the weather made it all that much more of an adventure.

Hike Stats:

Distance: 19.4 km (12 mi)

Time: 7 hours

Steps (for Jess): 41,700 steps

Elevation Gain: 844 m (2,769 ft)

Temperature range: -5 to 0°C (23 to 32°F)

Wind Speed: up to 50 km/hr (31 mph)

We felt like we deserved to relax, so we went to the hot pools. It was quite cheap to get a private pool so I urged us to go for it. Wrong choice. It felt like a prison cell with a concrete hot tub.

Back at the house we played some backyard football, soccer, and frisbee. After dark, we walked to the town to get dinner. The restaurant pickings were slim so we got frozen pizzas and dumplings to make at home.

We enjoyed one final morning sitting in the nook before packing up and heading to Taupo. There, we watched people attempting the Lake Taupo Hole in One and then went to the Craters of the Moon geothermal walkway. We had a nice lunch at Replete before hitting the road. On the way back, we stopped at the Mangakino Central Disc Golf Course for a few rounds of frolf. We were also able to enjoy a calming view of Lake Maraetai before heading home.

Tongariro National Park, Waikato, New Zealand

Mount Ngauruhoe stands watch above Desert Plains of Tongariro National Park on one of 'those' beautiful mornings of evolving light.

by Dylan Toh & Marianne Lim from Australia