To get away early for a weekend trip to Lake Taupo I tried to finish work at 3:00 o’clock on Friday – of course it didn’t really work and late as always I started the 2.5 hour drive into the mountains. I stayed in a lovely little holiday house in a small town called Turangi further around the lake from the main tourist town Taupo. It was really nice with a big warm fireplace and wooden floors and it barely cost any more than a backpackers, great!
On Saturday I did the Tongariro crossing – a day walk over a mountain range in Tongariro National Park, going right past Mount Ngaruhoe (also known as Mount Doom for the Lord of the Rings fans). The crossing itself was easier than expected. What made it difficult were my sore muscles from working in the gardens in the days before and of course it only got worse as I went over the mountain. All the tourist information and guide books said it was either a 7-8 or 6-8 hour walk and you should do it only in fine weather. The weather was great all day, but I was followed by a huge cloud, so I kept moving all day and managed the whole crossing in just over 6 hours.
At the very top of the mountain it did get a little tough. The last slope on the way up was very steep and covered with rocks and ice, which made the walking very difficult. I did slip once, but managed not to fall over completely. Of course there were no safety rails or anything, just some poles in the ground to mark the way to go and hundreds of tourists just happily crossing a mountain on their own – they would never allow this in Germany.
Just over the summit laid the best part of the whole way. The slope down was covered in shale – tiny little loose pieces of rock. You just put your heels into the ground and slipped and slid and almost swam through it on your way down – an easy and funny way to move forward. For the few people who were doing the crossing in the other direction it must have been ten times worse to try and go up that slope and then try and not fall down the ice on the other side.
You would think that once you had finished the way up it would be all easy and great but the worst part was not yet done. After I got out of the snow and rocks onto a grassy slope it was a huge long tiring walk down the hill. You could see the path stretching away in front of you forever and the slope pushed your toes into the front of your shoes and hurt your feet. Finally I arrived at the forest at the bottom of the mountain, where the car was parked. Despite seeming to be finished, the way led another 3km through the woods and on every corner I thought „this HAS to be the last corner, surely“, but no it was not.
Eventually I found my way to the car where the first thing was to get rid of my boots. Wonderful! Barefoot and happy I drove to the next village and rewarded myself for the efforts of the day with a visit in the local spa. It didn’t really help against the sore muscels but it was wonderful to relax in the hot water. It was even better to spend the evening with a glass of red wine on a fur in front of my fireplace.
On the way back home I actually stopped in Taupo for a quick look and went out to Huka falls – a huge powerful waterfall that is the start of the Waikato river. The river is channeled through a narrow path in the rock and roars out over the end into the river below. Something like 240,000 litres of water pours over the end every second. The waterfall isn’t impressive because of how tall it is, or how pretty it is, just because of the sheer power of the water being forced over the end. Standing on the bridge over the waterfall you can feel the vibrations coming through the rock itself and into the bridge.
Dead tired and with the most sore feet I have ever had, I drove back home. Tired as I was I still enjoyed the scenery on the way back home and even stopped a couple oftimes for photos.