The last day was going to be a bit of a mission. The longest walk at 8 hours, most of the trek would be covering the Tongariro Crossing. So to give ourselves a fighting chance, we left early in the morning. Another beautiful, if cold, view greeted us as we stepped out of the hut.
We walked back up the windy path back to the first crater for the big climb of the day.
At this point we started meeting all the people on the crossing coming across in the other direction. We got some grim satisfaction that we actually doing it the (relatively) easy way.
It was a beautiful day, the best out of the three, and it afforded us some spectacular views.
Once we had completed the crossing part, we had the decision of walking the last 3 hours back to the visitor's centre, or a 5 minutes jaunt and be picked up from the car park. Although knackered, we pushed on determined to complete it.
This was pretty difficult as now we walking through head high bush, no wind, humid and the sun beating down on us. The Chateau was a sight for sore eyes when we eventually saw it in the distance.
A fantastic walk, throughly enjoyed it. I would recommend to anyone but be warned. Some of it's a bit steep!
To prove you can take the man out of the army but not the army out of the man, Mike decided to have his morning ablution in the very, very cold water.
The weather got better as the day progressed and we were witness to some stunning scenery as we started to climb.
We got to the Oturere hut around midday, the mid point of the day's walk. A well earned rest before the big push up the side of the mountain.
The next three hours for defenitely the hardest of the circuit. we had to walk through a valley floor and up the side of the mountain to get to the craters.
Completely knackered, we took a well earned rest at the top, beside one of the crater lakes.
We struggled on to the Ketatahi hut. It could have been the tireness but the track leading down the hut seemed to stretch on forever...
We finally reached the hut after 6 hours. I was a little dehydrated at the end of it. Note to self, drink more water!
We got a lift up to the Whakapapa Visitor centre and signed in. The weather was pretty shocking even at that point.
Within the first hour of walking, the heavens opened and the wind picked up. Not the best start.
By midday we were completely soaked through, and unknown to us at the time, so was everything in mine and Derrilin's bag! Thankfully as we neared the hut after 5 hours, the clouds parted and sun began to shine. We reached the hut and unloaded all of our packs outside to dry out. Result.
The huts themselves were basic but comfortable.
I knocked up a chili. We played a couple of card games with young Austrian fella called Fabian that was also staying in the hut, then got some shut-eye, ready for day 2.
