Tongariro Alpine Crossing, NZ

A Little History
Tongariro National Park is located approximately in the middle of the North Island, and is a World Heritage area. The mountains of Tongariro are recognized as being central to the lives of the Iwi people who have historically occupied this area. The spiritual and cultural values are part of the landscape.

We stayed in the Whakapapa Village Holiday Park, and they arrange our transportation to and from the trail. The village is located at 1119m, and it was considerably colder at night than we had been used to. We did a 2 hour hike in the afternoon to get the legs going and explore the area.

It was a wonderful weather, but very cold at 7:00am the following morning, when we took the bus to the trail start of the 19.4km one way Tongariro Alpine Crossing (TAC). We had been warned that the wind speed would be around 60km/hr at the top, but the wind had already started picking up.

We started off with a gentle gradient climb alongside a stream and around edges of old lava flow. The lava has different colours; the younger lava is darker and absorbs much of the sun's heat - not that we could feel that at that time of the morning!

The track climbed steadily, gaining 340m up to the South Crater at the foot of Mt. Ngauruhoe. We crossed over two lava flows from eruptions in 1870 and 1975. 

We walked up the ridge, and started smelling sulphur from the Red Crater, which is still active. The red colour is from high temperature oxidation of iron in the rock - beautiful.

It was a struggle to get to the summit of the Red Crater, the highest point of the TAC at 1886m. The trail was steep, and the wind was very strong, pushing us sideways, with sand and small stone  flying around. This video was taken there while holding on to a sign due to the high winds:

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From there we descended steeply to the Emerald Lakes. Minerals leaching from the adjoining thermal area cause their brilliant color. These lakes freeze in winter.

Find Andy!

This is taken towards to summit, not an easy ascend due to the high winds and the loose lava.

The Red Crater and the latest lava flow, easy to see the black lava.

Then we started our descend back to civilization and the bus pick up, but it wasn't without danger..

and this is why...

The trail went right thorugh the active area,

and we had one more dangerous zone to walk through....

Trust me, we did move very quickly.

It was an amazing hike, and nothing like we have ever done before!

Waimangu Volcanic Valley - The World's Youngest Geothermal Area

This valley is located 14km south of Rotorua, on the North Island. Waimangu is the only hydrothermal system in the world, the commencement of whose surface activity can be pinned down to an exact day, namely June 10 1886. On that day a violent volcanic eruption punctured the country in this locality with a series of craters, and allowed geothermal fluid already present underground direct passage to the surface. The area looked like this just after the 1886 eruption.

This area is very important botanically because it is the only area in New Zealand where there has been the opportunity to record the re-establishment of a native forest following complete destruction of all plant life. This is what it looks like today; the photo is taken from the same spot.

We started our walk at the Frying Pan Lake, which is one of the world's largest hot springs covering 38,000 sq.m. It has an average depth of 6m and the water temperature is about 55C/131F, so a very appropriate name!

The sulphur smell was strong, the lake was bubbling, and the air was warm. 

We followed the trail along a steaming hot stream with beautiful colourings; we were not tempted to go off trail, as that could mean an instant third degree burn on the foot!

We reached the pale blue Inferno Crater Lake. Officially it was named 'Gateway to the Inferno' by the first surveyors, as the 1986 eruption started here, and it is the portal to the underworld. When full the lake is 30m deep, and the water temperature is 80C/176F.

These multi-coloured terraces are formed by the hot geothermal fluids cooling as the run across the surface of the ground.

We followed the Mt. Haszard Hiking Trail and reached the lake, where we were met by hundreds of black swans and other birds.

Then we boarded a boat on Lake Rotomahana, which has many hot springs discharging into the bottom of the lake. The lake emits about 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide gas every day, which indicates that the lake is more of an active volcanic crater than just a hydrothermal system. Interesting place to be sailing.

We a small geyser erupt,

and steaming cliffs created by hot water springs and steaming vents,

It was a fascinating visit, and we could almost feel the ground burn under our feet.