Tongariro Crossing - Start to Springs

So today I finally got to take on the Tongariro Crossing! 19.4km with 843m of elevation gain and said to be the most spectacular single day walk in New Zealand and one of the top 10 in the world!

Many alarms in our dorm went off between 4am - 4:30am as we boarded our shuttle bus at 5:10am. After an hour or so drive, 11 of us on the bus all agreed to stick together for the day as we were expecting low visibility and sub zero temperatures for the higher parts of the trek.

The start was at around 1,000m evelation and began with a steady ascent as we walked alongside Mount Ngauruhoe, also known as Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings! This made for a pleasant start to the day as the sun rose over the mountains and warmed us up.Read more