On the day of our Crossing endeavour, there must have been close to a thousand people who were also taking part in the same bustle. Naturally however, the majority of these passed us early on at the Devils Staircase meaning that after reaching the flat section, we were no longer with the crowds. For us, this wasn’t such a bad thing as it made taking photographs much easier. We had spectacular views of Mt Ngauruhoe as we walked across the open ground on our way towards the final big climb. The only notable downside to tactically letting everybody else pass us (completely intentional as always) was that the ground was now muddy ahead. Nonetheless we managed to navigate around the bad areas with ease until reaching the next uphill section where the track narrowed to just a couple of metres. Still it wasn’t impossible and we made it up the exposed ridge to the edge of Red Crater in relatively good time.
Relieved that the hard work had been done, we could relax a little and crank down the urgency a notch. The edge of the Red Crater overlooks Oturere Valley, Rangipo Desert, Kaimanawa Ranges and the Emerald Lakes. This is the part of the crossing where all the amazing photo’s come from because it’s unlike anything you’ll ever see anywhere else. It’s a lot to take in and honestly in every direction, it’s just stunning... we didn’t know where to look. After being unable to decide we sat down to have a snack whilst discussing which bits looked best.
“It was similar to reaching the summit of a mountain, that point where you can now get the panoramic picture and you want to see everything all at once because it all looks so good... but you can’t, so you kinda start spinning around trying to take it all in like a kid in a toy shop. I couldn’t capture how much there was to see, or how amazing it was no matter how many photos I took so I turned to videos instead. Still, they don’t even come close.”
“I was speechless. Standing on the edge of the Red Crater was one of the moments when you just can’t fully take in the beauty surrounding you and if you are like me, it brings tears to your eyes.”
At this point we were starting to fall behind on time, so maybe slowing the pace down wasn’t the best idea. The route down to the Emerald Lakes is steep and laden with gravel. It’s where most accidents happen because people tend to underestimate the gradient and surface. A bit of a crowd had built up again where everyone was being extra cautious that day, taking a responsible and steady approach to getting down to the lakes. As is quite easy to imagine, this made it very easy for Liam to overtake them all whilst running and sliding through the loose rocks claiming that he was going to win.
“And I did, in fact win. Just saying.”
“Sometimes I pretend I don’t know him, this was one of those times.”
The ground then normalizes at the bottom of the hill. The next stop will be the Emerald Lakes, where you’ll probably spend as much time as your shuttle allows. The car park is still 2-3 hours away at this point so do the math and make sure you get back in good time - a point to note here is that we heard of people being left behind after missing the bus; it seems the driver’s like to play a hilarious game where they don’t wait for people, and those ‘search parties’ aren’t really as common as people are led to believe. It’s easy to get carried away in the moment and having to call a taxi all the way out to the crossing is an easy way to ensure that you don’t finish the day with a smile on your face.
We found the Emerald Lakes to be a calmer experience than the Red Crater. It’s much easier to take in the beauty of the lakes than it is a 360 view, which therefore makes it easier to appreciate the surroundings while taking a stroll around the perimeter or even sitting down to take a rest. Conscious of the time we progressed forward and much to our surprise arrived at another lake on the other side of a small hill. This time a blue lake, and other than a couple of people walking around the edge we were on our own here. The Blue Lake lake was large in comparison to the Emerald Lakes and with clearer, almost inviting water. It is essentially acid though, so we didn’t. Instead we continued with the walk.
The Blue Lake marks the start of the final leg of the Alpine Crossing. We had it in our heads at this point that it would be downhill from here on... it wasn’t. Luckily the uphill section after the Blue Lake is nothing compared to the others but for one of us at least, it was still an unnecessary evil. Thankfully the only thing left to do now was follow the long winding path to the carpark. We were taken through a forest as we zig-zagged back and fourth down to the road level, wondering how far we had left before the end. It became apparent to us after a while that we still had some way to go and that if we didn’t get a move on we’d be late, so we ended up running the last stretch, only managing to make it to the bus with a couple of minutes to spare.
Of course we’re all hot and sweaty at this point and desperate to get on the bus so we could finally rest. Let’s be honest, running for the bus is hard enough on its own without adding backpacks and a 9 hour hike to the recipe. Anyway somehow we weren’t the last to board and had caught our breath back by the time we started moving. It was when we got back to the room that the tiredness finally kicked in, and after eating a quick dinner we made sure to have a good night’s sleep so we could function at work the next day.
If you’ve ever had sore legs the day or two after the gym, you’ll be familiar with the feeling that will come after doing the hike. If you haven’t experienced this before then you may want to try and avoid stairs for a while after doing the crossing. For us at work it made things a little more difficult than the average day but it was also a continuous reminder of the enjoyment we had the day before. The leg pain was inconvenient but was proof to us that conquering the Tongariro Crossing is something to feel proud of.
In terms of difficulty, this wasn’t the hardest thing we’ve done but it certainly had the most impact on us in more ways than one. It was though the most memorable hike by quite a wide margin and definitely made the biggest dent in our media storage. It’s also to this day one of the most talked about activities of our holiday, and so it goes without saying that we wholeheartedly and unequivocally recommend this to anybody that has the chance to get their boots on the Tongariro soil.
The question still stands whether or not this is ‘the best’ short hike in New Zealand; we didn’t do all of the hikes in the country of course but feel pretty confident when we say the crossing is undoubtedly up there with the winners. For us anyhow, it came out on top and if our conversations with other travellers are anything to go by, the crossing has probably had more coverage than all of the other walks combined. Hopefully this makes it pretty clear that the Tongariro Crossing is an absolute must-do if you visit New Zealand. Just remember to prepare well for this amazing alpine adventure!
“I have to admit that this wasn’t originally top of my bucket list for NZ, but after having such a great time and with all the memories surrounding that day, I can’t imagine not doing it... I’ll never forget it (and I forget everything) ”
“For me the crossing was the most difficult but also the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. The track gets you gradually. We started with an easy walk through a volcanic land when the sun was still peaking from behind the tall volcanoes. Eventually, I had to face a great challenge in the form of stairs but what opened in front of me on the top was worth every drop of my sweat!”
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