Tongariro Crossing
Posted On Thursday, January 1, 1998 at at 7:29 PM by AlvinThis was one of the most memorable new year days of late. We spent the whole day on the Tongariro Crossing ! We set the alarm for 630 AM and got up in time for a light breakfast cooked in the Whakapapa camp site kitchen by Mandy and then we were wisked away by a army-like truck to a drop-off point an hour's drive away and there we were told "make sure you get to the other side by 5PM, we ain't gonna wait.". Basically, The Tongariro Crossing involved crossing the Tongariro Mountain which spanned a length of about 20 KM, no sweat ! The entry and exit points for this enjoyable hike were Mangatepopo and Ketetahi.
The Crossing took us almostly 8 hours and we came by steep volcano craters, colorful lakes, moonscapes and fantastic mountain formations at an elevation of about 2,000 metres. We were absolutely exhausted afterwards and were so glad to be sitting back at the camp site for a well deserved NZ roast leg of lamb which NZ was famous for !
The Crossing took us almostly 8 hours and we came by steep volcano craters, colorful lakes, moonscapes and fantastic mountain formations at an elevation of about 2,000 metres. We were absolutely exhausted afterwards and were so glad to be sitting back at the camp site for a well deserved NZ roast leg of lamb which NZ was famous for !
