Tongariro Alpine Crossing

"Now, I don't know, I don't know where I'm a gonna go when the Volcano blow" Jimmy Buffet - Volcano

We are staying at the Adventure Lodge in the small town of National Park in the Tongariro National Park. A really cool "rustic" place full of outdoor adventurers. The rooms are a bit basic but very adequate for what we need. Very comfortable bed and a nice hot shower for the end of the day. Jason, the owner? has been more than helpful in getting us set up for the shuttle ride to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Ends up that Jason not only runs the Motel but also drives the Shuttle and cooked our fabulous breakfast before our 7:30 departure. He assured us it would be a cracker day.

We arrived at the trail head at 8:00 for out day's adventure at Mangatepopo Car Park. Here is the trail map and the elevation profile.

We started off on a steady climb with views of Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe. 

Soda Springs to South Crater was a punishing climb of 300 m with hundreds of crib stairs and steep paths.

The crater was flat and provided a good foreground for views of Mt Ngauruhoe.

This area was used for the filming of Lord of the Rings. I think that's Mt Moor in the background.

After the flat walk across the crater, another tough 250 m uphill climb on loose rock to Red Crater. Fabulous views.

Now it was downhill on a very loose volcanic sand/rock that was like descending in deep snow. Plant your heel and slide. This got us to emerald lakes. Beautiful!

From here on, it was a 10 km downhill slog of 1000 m drop. 

The sunny skies gave way to a misty drizzle. We went through the active volcano zone with lots of warning about how to avoid death should there be an eruption (the last one was three years ago). Tips like run away from it and avoid the flying rocks!

Yes, follow the little trail down to the valley the go another 3 km.

Knees and feet burning we finally arrived at the car park at 3:50 pm and luckily Jason was there to greet us and wisk us back to the Adventure Lodge. Chris's FitBit logged 37000 steps and my iPhone hiking app logged 25 km. It was now Tui/Chardonnay time before a nice hot shower and a trip up the street for Fish 'n Chips.