6-9 May
We spent a couple of nights in the Blue Duck Lodge, a working farm and reserve in Whakahoro. There were plenty of activities available including hunting, clay pigeon shooting and horse trekking. Hannah, Callum and I opted to go for the free version - walking. We wandered up to the waterfall which took a couple of hours then headed back. In the evening, we toasted marshmallows by the campfire whilst the owners of the lodge went out looking for Niko, Seb (Banberg or bumbag as I nicknamed him) and Michael who had not returned. Thankfully they returned safely but learnt an important lesson that day; if you see a sign that says "wrong way", it's because you've gone...the wrong way!
The next morning we left at 6.30am for the Tongariro National Park. At first, we weren't sure whether we'd be able to do the walk due to the weather, but, thankfully we did. The guide made sure we were kitted out for all weathers and terrain. Thankfully we didn't need it. The walk was meant to take 7 hours and we had exactly 7 hours to do it in. It took us over amazing volcanic plateau with steaming craters. There were 12 of us that took part but only 11 completed as sadly Michael had to turn back at the south crater. Before half way, we scrambled up 45 mins of steep stairs otherwise known as devil's staircase up to the Red Crater. Climbing down the other side felt like we were snowboarding but on ash. Extremely surreal. After a brief stop for lunch at the Emerald and blue lakes we began out decent. Having completed what we thought was most of the walk, we arrived at the shelter. Unfortunately there was still 10km to go! I don't remember much of that 10km but I do remember the last trek through the rainforest felt like it was never going to end.
In the evening, we all felt sore so headed for the hot tub and a lovely warm meal!
Next stop: it's off to Wellington before hitting the last bit of the South Island.
*Thanks to Callum Gordon for the photos from the Tongeriro Crossing
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