The Tongariro Crossing

This time a five and a half hour hike over the Tongariro Crossing, often dubbed as the best one-day walk in New Zealand. Fantastic hike - going through volcanic craters, snowfields, glacial valleys, lush forest and over the tops of mountains. I can't recommend it enough and have uploaded a couple of pics.

The first pic was the steepest part of the hike - over the saddle between Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. You can see the track on the right of the pic, snaking up past the patch of ice. The pic doesn't do justice to the steepness of the climb, nor to the rocky trail - near the top it was as much as I could do to move my feet forward an inch at a time).

Me and a cheesy tourist shot in front of Mt Ngauruhoe. (NB - the cap helps to keep my head warm in the cold - not because I am frightened of sun-stroke).


A couple of shots of the Red Crater - truly breathtaking. On the second pic you can just see some people on the top of the crater, showing the trail takes you to the edge of the cliff.