After almost 3-weeks-long wilderness exploration on the South Island, we crossed the Cook Strait for the second time and returned to the North Island where this whole trip started! Not counting a one-night stopover in Wellington to celebrate Pepe’s birthday we headed first to Taupo sitting in the middle of the island. We got the first glimpse of what it means to be on a volcanic island and how the geothermal activity looks and smells (big emphasis on the smell!). From Taupo as our base, we also went to see a bit of Mordor and hiked the famous Tongariro Crossing that we completed successfully, despite some initial suspensories. Welcome to the North Island, guys! We hope you’ll like it.
Taupo and surrounding
Taupo is the main base for outdoor and adrenaline activities of the North Island. The city lies on the shores of a namesake lake – actually the largest lake in New Zealand. And since we were already on the North Island there were finally some volcanoes in sight.
There is a ton of things to do and see around the city. You can go skydiving, rafting or take a lake cruise. We took bikes from our lodge and cycled a bit around to see the powerful Huka Falls or the first geothermal park during our kiwi trip.
Cycling to the Huka Falls
Huka Falls aren’t far from the center of Taupo – if you take a direct road along the river, it’s just a short 5 km journey. However, we wanted to get some city views first and before we knew it we somehow found ourselves traversing a forest. Pepe was leading :) Eventually we arrived at the entrance of Huka Falls, parked our bikes and went to see that natural wonder.
The falls themselves look small but powerful! The sheer volume of water from the Waikato River which is tumbling over the 15m wide and 10m deep falls makes a solid loud waterfally sound. There is a nice lookout walk we did and indulged this spectacle. If you are done with the views of the falls there are more walking trails closeby. And actually also a walking trail back to/from Taupo, the Spa Park to Huka Falls trail (1.5h). But as we had our bikes with us we just walked the short circuit and returned back.
Visiting Craters of the Moon
From Huka Falls, we continued cycling to the geothermal park above Taupo with a mystical name Craters of the Moon. There is a minimal incline to get there and Mia was already complaining that she must be the unluckiest biker alive since she had picked the WORST bike again. Luckily, the complaining lasted just for something over 3km. We bought our ticket at the entrance and then entered this surreal and peaceful place. There were almost no other tourists present, only the silent wheezing of the craters and sulfur smell from the fumaroles in this very active volcanic area. But as we learned later, this smell was nothing compared to… Wait for it!
Enjoying the lake
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for a lake cruise this time. But after biking back to the town we’ve spent some quality time at the lakeside. And took a photo with the popular Taupo sign :)
Our Tongariro Crossing
Tongariro National Park is the place where Mount Doom is. Actually the real name’s Mount Ngauruhoe and it’s one of the most popular hiking destinations in the North Island.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing is the official name of the famous 19.4km long track (but we somehow walked 25, no idea how or why) and was our longest day hike in New Zealand. We walked through the dramatic volcanic alpine landscapes with glacial valleys, old lava rocks, craters and crater lakes and all of this of course with the conical beauties towering above us.
We started super early in the morning from the elevation 1120 m (sign 0 km – and there is one every km to keep you motivated) and started climbing up the Mangatepopo valley following the orange-looking stream. None of the water in the area is drinkable as it contains a plethora of funny volcanic chemicals that would make you pretty sick. We made a short side trip to Soda Springs (again, soda = drinkable, Soda Springs = nope) and after a 10 min stop and chat with our fellow hikers we continued on a steep way up to the saddle between Mount Ngauruhoe and Tongariro and to the South Crater. Some more steps up and we reached the highest point of the track – the Red Crater (1886m) and its sulfur smell.
From the Red Crater we could enjoy spectacular views of the valleys, deserts and ranges but most of all, we spotted the main reason (for Mia) to come up here – the three stunning and vividly blueish-greenish Emerald Lakes as well as a glimpse of the Blue Lake a bit further and higher away. Yay! (Pepe enjoyed mostly snacks. Yay!)
To get to the lakes we needed to walk down a loose volcanic gravel road (independent observer could easily imagine the Benny Hill theme playing in the background, as the road was filled with dozens of hikers sliding and stumbling and slipping at all times). But we all managed without any accidents.
After a break and several thousands photos we had to continue further in order to finish the track in a reasonable time to catch our van. The rest of the track, after passing the cold acidic Blue Lake, was less exciting as we started with boring and never ending 6 km long zigzag descent to 760 m. However, the flora on the way was quite fascinating, the sky looked very dramatic and so did valley vista, mountains and Lake Rotoaira across to Lake Taupo. Last steps through a forest and we reached the end mark :)
Before the trek we’d heard it can be dangerous to walk it later than April since there may be already snow and in that case the track requires better equipment. We’ve also read that the weather can change suddenly and we may not be able to complete – or even start – the track.
In a nutshell, reading all the official information about the track and all the risks and hazards associated with it we got an impression that it’s quite probable that amateurs like the two of us will just die midway and there’ll be nothing left to tell about our daring adventures except for two sun bleached skeletons with backpacks on their back. In the middle of Mordor. So very, very sad. Even the information posters in the first part of the track didn’t put a lot of confidence in us and subtly inquired if we’re still 100% sure we don’t want to return back since it’s gonna be extremely difficult and dangerous.
Alas, we survived! Of course we don’t want to underestimate the volcanic, geothermal and alpine risks, but as for the difficulty of the track, this one was fine. While it’s true that some parts were slippery because the volcanic sand was giving way as we were walking, the track wasn’t technically demanding at all. The only worry we had in the end was that we won’t be able to move for several days afterwards (based on our experience from Mount Cook National Park). However, our physical condition had probably improved, since in the evening we didn’t mind walking to a store in Taupo to fetch a bottle of Pinot Gris to celebrate our glorious achievement!
How to get around
This was quite a haul – firstly we took the InterIslander ferry from Picton to Wellington (3 hours), landing exactly where we began our trip more than three weeks ago. The next destination was Taupo, a 6h drive north by the InterCity bus. But before heading to Taupo, we decided to stay in Wellington for a night and celebrate Pepe’s birthday in our new favorite bar we’d found here 3 weeks before.
As for the Tongariro National Park, it’s quite convenient to stay in Taupo and book one of the vans that bring you to the starting point (Mangatepopo Road End) and picks you up from the finish line (Ketetahi Car Park) afterwards. You can easily organize everything through the local visitor information center – i-Site or your accommodation. We used i-Site and were very satisfied with the service and all the information we got about the hike. Note that since it isn’t a circular hike driving a rented car will not help you much here (unless you have friends going from the other direction who would swap car keys in the middle).
Where did we stay
We stayed in Taupo for three nights in a hostel called Rainbow Lodge. We were very happy with the rooms, kitchen, common area and overall equipment of our accommodation, offering also bicycles for rent, which we happily used right the next day.
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