Tongariro Crossing

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 Day 21: Tongariro Holiday Park - Whakapapa Holiday Park (via Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the track to Whakapapa Village) approximately 31km/10.5 hours. 

Greg, our new best friend, kindly dropped us off at the end of the road for our start on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We were approaching this East to West unlike the majority of walkers who prefer the opposite route as they drop about 500m in altitude. 

We have both walked this before (in the usual direction) but not with big packs which make climbing up the scree (and down the other side) more challenging. 

That said, we were incredibly lucky with the weather (again) and had fantastic views. It was particularly interesting to see layers of mountain peaks in the distance - some of which we have been over in the last few weeks.  














Just before the end of the crossing we detoured off on to the track to take us to Whakapapa. An interesting track (is my polite word for it, not the word I was using whilst walking). It was very rugged and what we thought would be a nice meander in to the village - was not! 

Although most of this was not as challenging as yesterday (distance and track condition) I personally found this mentally and physically much harder.  Still, nothing that a beer and a big feed with a great view can’t cure! 













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