Tongariro Alpine Crossing Trek

So we have been planning an epic hike since the trip began, however it hasn't been in the cards up until now and the stars weren't lining up with all of the other coffee drinking and flying around everywhere. Finally a justification and purpose for lugging around my 10+ lbs hiking boots for 3 months at the bottom of my pack. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is ranked as one of the best day hikes in New Zealand which is easily accomplished in 6.5 - 8.5 hours. We tramped just over 20km in just over 6 hours off the couch(car). Ekkk. It starts off as a gradual climb, mounting to a steep windy summit then switchbacks all the way down to the parking lot. Winds were forecasted for 65km/hr so I figured "hey what a great opportunity to wear shorts today" lol. The hike sits in the Tongariro National Park owned by a local Maori group and much of the Lord of the Rings movies was actually filmed here also. There was absolutely no wildlife along the way as it turned out this is an active volcanic site. We kept each other laughing along the way, I got grumpy for a while then cheered up towards the end. Beth took a huge block of chocolate and a litre of orange juice on top of our standard lunch which I found quite hilarious.Read more