Tongariro Crossing - Stunning Day Hike

After being a Hobbit for a few hours, our next destination was Rotorua. Rotorua is dubbed the stinky city, due to its ever-present geothermal activity. More specially, sulfur comes out from the ground and parts of the city just smell like rotten eggs. We only stayed there one night and explored town.

The next day, we went off to Lake Taupo. Once we arrived, we quickly checked out the #1 voted 'coolest' McDonalds in the world - you basically take your order and then go and eat it in an old plane. Cool idea, but the interior is a bit boring.

Anyway, after a good night's sleep, a few in our group and I were ready to tackle the Tongariro Crossing. The 19.4km trek is considered among the top 1-Day hikes in the world. It weaves its way through a stunning volcanic landscape with a picture-perfect volcano towering above, passes the incredibly colourful Emerald Lakes and finishes with a long stretch overlooking Lake Taupo in the distance.

As is almost customary with beautiful nature in New Zealand, one of the volcanos we passed on the hike, Mt Ngâuruhoe, plays a crucial role in The Lord of the Rings - it features as Mount Doom, where Sauron's ring was forged and in which Frodo needs to throw the ring to destroy it.

Back to the trek. It is advertised as challenging, but there are really only two small/medium sections where it goes uphill. The rest is rather flat. So the most challenging part of the trek is its length (19.4km) and its duration (c. 7-8h).

We were up before dawn as our shuttle to the start of the trek picked us up at 5.20am. We started the trek at 7am and the air was fresh, crisp but not too cold. We were incredibly lucky with the weather on the day, and as soon as the sun rose behind the mountains/volcanos, we could take off our jackets as the sun pleasantly warmed the air.

Multiple times, we stopped to take pictures or just to admire our surroundings. The volcanic scenery was truly spectacular and I indeed felt a bit like Frodo walking through Mordor.

Once we reached the top of the Red Crater - the highest point of the trek at 1886m - we brought out our tupperware and had lunch (pasta with pesto).

Afterwards, it was a steep section down to the turquoise Emerald Lakes. There was gravel everywhere and literally the best way was to run down or go extremely slowly - of course most of us opted to run down. We spent a bit of time by the lakes before the scenic, but very long way back to the carpark (c.2.5-3h). That bit I didn't really like, as the views didn't change and it was just down, down, down for a very long time.

So, what's the verdict for the trek? It is indeed spectacular and fully deserves to be among the best day hikes in the world. Not only does the scenery change frequently, but on a clear day with blue skies the views are simply breathtaking. It reminded me how much I love being among volcanoes/mountains. I often say, mountains are peace and peace is happiness. The Tongariro Crossing was among the main reasons why I came back to New Zealand and it delivered big time. I was so happy to trek it, in particular on such a picture-perfect day!Leia mais