Christmas in Lake Taupo & Tongariro Crossing

Lake Taupo - December 25, Christmas
Christmas morning was warm but a bit cloudy and we were hoping to do a short tramp/hike today. Made some pancakes for breakfast as a treat but the syrup Chelsea Golden Syrup was a bit weird compared to our maple syrup. However, we weren't going to spend the exorbitant amount on maple so...we made it work. Funny, one of our roommates is from Finland, second Finnish guy we met so far. The first was Heikki who we met in Cook Islands and the second also turned out to be a Heikki. He had just done the Tongariro Crossing and said it was incredible if the weather is good so we decided to try it the next day.

Took a drive to Huka Falls, lots of people out and about despite the town of Taupo being like a ghost town with everything closed. Then we drove to Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area that was very different then anything we had seen in NZ so far. Not a real hike but interesting terrain with geysers, fumeroles, craters and lots of steam. Back to Sunset Lodge to make our Christmas dinner. Turns out we should NOT have bought the Teryaki enhanced steaks that we thought would be like our premarinated meats at home in the States. Luckily I made a great rice dish with sauteed veggies in a pesto sauce and we had the chocolate caramels. :) Turns out our friend Mike (British) who we met originally in Cook Islands was also in town so we went to the bar at his hostel, Taupo Urban Retreat, and had a few beers and shooters. Hmmm, probably not such a great decision considering we were going to be walking for 6-8 hours the next day on the Tongariro Crossing. Ah well, we are on holiday right?! Darn you Mike for being a bad influence, you and your Kiwi bus friends! :)

December 26 - Tongariro Crossing
Is it really time to get up, I thought when the alarm went off and I saw it was 5:30 am. Time to make some PB & J sandwiches to bring with us for nourishment along with some muesli bars. We also had to put all our stuff in the car because we didn't book another night and checkout is at 10am. The Tongariro Expeditions bus picked us up at 6:20 am and we had a not so wonderful bus ride to Tongariro National Park (about 45min to 1 hour away). Luckily, the weather cleared up with the rain stopping although still a bit cloudy. Carrie was feeling pretty hungover and I was just plain tired out.

They call this walk the best one-day hike in New Zealand and after having done it I agree it is incredible! The varied and spectacular volcanic terrain (17 km) gave us so much to look at during the 7 hours it took to complete the hike.

1. The first view of Mt. Nguauruhoe (229m) is the same one they use for Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings. This portion is flat and called The Mangatepopo Valley Track and took us about 1 hour. It runs the Mangatepopo Valley to the saddle between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe Mountains .
2. The Devil's Staircase portion was a killer, so steep and winding and it took us about an hour.
3. It climbs to the Red Crater (1886m) at the highest point. This hike along the ridge to the crater was a killer mostly due to the wind whipping us around on a smallish ledge with a long drop down on either side.
4. Next it drops down to the vivid Emerald Lakes , three varied colored water filled explosion craters. The driver told us they are poisonous due to naturally occurring elements of arsenic.
5. Continues over central crater to Blue Lake (old volcanic vent called Rangihiroa's Mirror) and from here it sidles around the Tongariro Mountain descending in a zig zag to Ketetahi Hut.
6. Below the hut it continues down the tussock slopes to forest bushline.
7. According to our brochure, the cool podocarp hardwood forest provides the final contrast on the long descent to the trail end.

Let me just tell you that we were exuberant to complete the trail, even had some company when our friend Vignesh (we met on the ferry and he's from NYC) ran into us near Red Crater. We all rested while waiting for our buses to leave around 4:30 but we finished about 3pm. It was well worth the early wake-up and sore muscles. We all agree to meet up later for a big steak dinner in town (Taupo). We did it right by ordering Porterhouse steaks at On Tap and it was reminiscent of a big American meal (I must admit we pretty much ate almost every bite too!).

Next, on our way to meet up with our friends in Rotorua and Mount Maunganui.