The Eruption of Tongariro in Mordor

Shakespeare's Clock Tower

 A lot of things happen since I last wrote here. We are well settled in Auckland, both in the working process. It is much harder to get back to the “normal” routine than we would imagine. All days are the same, nothing is happening...work, eat, tv, sleep. But we have also started to plan and organise our departure and next adventure so you have something to look forwards to. The blog had undergone a facelift and we hope that you are enjoying our new look. Let us know if you have any tips, suggestions or just your positive comments. We always love to hear from you.

Anw, lets go three months back (can't belive that it is so long now) when we arrived to Stratford. A small town trying to be its even smaller, but a little bit more famous English cousin. The town has a clock tower, far from the geniosity of "Orloj" in Prague, but still pretty good. Three times daily it shows the play of Romeo and Juliet with relatively large figurines and the story with music come from the speakers behind your back. 

Makahu Tunnel - Forgotten Hwy

Stratford has also one more significance. It is the beginning of Forgotten World Highway. It is a rare sight on North Island but this part of island has been somehow forgotten since mining ended. Nowadays it is trying to reinvent itself as tourist attraction with beautiful sceneries, old tunnels and even its own republic (The village of Whangamomona declared itself a republic in 1989 as a protest against a decision for it to be moved to other district which would mean that they would have to support their rival rugby team.)

The following day we returned back to civilisation and prepare ourselves for the Tongariro journey ahead. The first glimse of Whakapapa village, the centre of Tongagariro National Park, was amazing with chateau and snow capped mountines behind. Unfortunately, my fears became reality when DOC told us that there is an ice on the crossing and that we should not attempt it without crampons:-(. It was very disappointing for me, but they offered us a way how to enjoy at least a part of the Northern track. But before we head to our overnight camp, we had to see our first Tongariro Lord of the Rings sight. It was the skifield just above the village where hobbits first entered Mordor. There you can first see the natural differences of this national park. Taranaki was volcanic park, but you can't compare these two. The evidence of volcanic activity is everywhere with the sand and the weird stones around everywhere. Not surprising that this area was chosen to be the dark burning scene of Mordor.

Château with Mt Ruapehu

Rangipo Desert

In the morning there was a unwelcomed surprise waiting for us...all taps at the DOC camp were frozen. Fortunately we had a bit of water with us that would could heat to get at least our morning tea and our teeth washed. Others were probably not as lucky as a few campervans left soon after they found out. Not all was bad as freezing night meant that the sky was clear so we put on our winter gloves and beanies and packed our bags an headed back to Whakapapa village to begin our last NZ track. The weather was beautiful so we could enjoy the scenery and walk swiftly around tourist masses that surrounds Whakapapa. At our first stop, Taranaki Falls, we met a young lad that had walked Tongariro Crossing just the day before. He claimed that it is possible to walk the crossing without crampons. This made us thinking. We have set a time until when we need to reach Waihohonu Hut in order to continue to Oturere Hut, a potential mid point on the Nothern Circuit. Those of you that know Luky realise that he was walking fast, and I mean he does not slow down even with 15kg backpack. I was trying to catch up, but empty stomach made me just angry that I could not even enjoy the awesome volcano environment. In the end Lukas decided to wait for me and feed me with some lunch:-). And as a reward I sent him ahead to find a cashe near the only museum that you have to reach on foot, Old Waihohonu Hut. 

Old Waihohonu Hut

The hut is a tramping museum showing the importance of it in NZ skiing and hiking history. The original hut was build in 1904 making it the oldest mountain hut in NZ. Women bunkroom was added at later stage giving women the very basics in comparison with the main men's bunkroom. They even had apply to the ski club to even get a mirror into the room.

Sunset over Mt Ruapehu

The new hut is only 5 min away from the museum and a surprise was waiting for us in there...two czech guys. Just came back from Tongariro Crossing. They ensured us that its ok to do the track without crampons gave us a bit more info about the track. That excited us even more so we rushed out and climed the nearest hill in a minute. On the top the vast Rangipo Desert was waiting for us. It is a moon landscape that amazed Peter Jackson so much that he based his Mordor there. And the sundawn created even more magical experience. And when we reached Oturere Hut after walking 25km in 6.5 hours we found out that the whole hut is just for us.

Mordor

In the morning it was like de ja vu...all taps were frozen...but this time we did not have any other water and we had to wait for sun to reheat the taps to fill up our bottles. But it was a pleasant wait and because of safety reason we had to wait for the snow on the mountains to melt down a bit as well. Soon after we left the hut we realised why crampons are recommended on this track. The climb to Emerald Lakes was steep and very icy. But because we are clever czech couple that is not afraid we got all our mountain knowledge together and used our shoes to dig a small steps and climbed in an angle so we did not slip. We knew that we are close to the lakes well before we could see them. The sulphur smell was strong and it hit us unprepared :-). 

Emerald Lakes

Once we actually saw them the view was amazing. The lakes are nice and blue and both were partially covered with ice that Luky had to try out the thickness....thankfully only with a rock,not with his own weight:-). By reaching the lakes we have joined the Tongariro Crossing track that is considered as one of the NZ must dos. And it is not surprising. The views are amazing, especially when most of the mountains are covered in snow. 

Central Crater and Blue Lake

Unfortunately, a "must do" comes with a lot of attention and even though we were there out of season the amount of people that we met was unusually high for New Zealand. Most of them were part of guided tours with crampons. So you can imagine the atmosphere, you can just look above on the main blog photo...that is me on the ridge of the crossing. Lukas was able to make this amazing photo just before the fog, wind and mist came over from behind and covered all the beauty. The ridge around the Red Crater took us on the south side where the road was more muddy than icy. On the way we passed the Tongariro Summit, a volcano that erupted just three months after. You see the warning everywhere, but you never think that it might actually happen. This was another reminder about the nature power that you can experience only in New Zealand. 

Red Crater

 The rest of the track was downhill and included a lot of steps, so called Devil's Staircase. Even though we had enough time to finish the track the following day we were trying to reach the Whakapapa village as soon as possible. On that day the route that we planned was very difficult and we managed it in very short time but to reach the village, there were still 8 km to go. It was hard for me to catch up with Luky especially after the "run" that we did on the previous day.

Less then a mile from Tongariro Summit

We wanted to reach the village because of the rumours that we heard that the car park is not very safe and in addition, Luky was not sure if the car is actually locked. So he has decided that he will walk the rest by himself without backpack and leave me at the Mangatepopo Hut. Then he would ride to the beginning of the Tongariro Crossing and joined me at the hut later on. We were no longer in the mountains and I have calculated a time until when he had to let me know so in the end I have agreed. It was true that without me he could walk almost twice as fast. And in the end he walked the whole circuit that normally takes four days in only two.