Tongariro crossing. 20km of epic walking

Up at 4.45am. Scrubbed the teeth and shovelled some coco pops down. Took our packs to the side of the main road for our bus which was due to arrive at 5.20am. The forecast was for wall to wall blue sky, and it was exactly that. A perfect day for doing the 20km Tongariro crossing. We started the trail at 7am.
The hike is relatively easy with a few steep parts thrown in. Passed Mount Doom from the lord of the rings on the way up. Then onwards to a big plateau, a red crater, emerald lakes and a blue lake.
The decent down after the red crater was fairly tricky with slippy little pumice rocks underfoot which were nice and round, perfect for rolling your feet on.
The last 2 hours were down a gentle slope leading into a forest. Back by 2pm.
Made it down and got straight onto the first bus which was there. This dropped us back at the campervan and then we headed straight to Napier on the east coast. Napier is a wine making area, so I wonder what the activity for the next few days will be.
Easy drive, picked up some steak, mushrooms and creamed corn for dinner. This was way more hassle than it was worth in such a confined cooking space, made more difficult by the fact that we ran out of water whilst Hannah was having a shower. Making washing up a bit tricky.
Legs feeling tired we were ready for bed by 9. A good walking day.Read more