Tongariro Crossing

Tongariro Crossing

So last Saturday I woke up at 05:30. And you can imagine that me being on holidays the past 2 months, that didn’t really work out. Half asleep I walked to Maria’s room to wake her up. I then put on my most fashionable clothes. A pinky/blue/white striped legging, some black shorts, tramping boots and a biking top. I grabbed a backpack and left at 06:15 to the Tongariro National Park. Arriving there around 09:00 we (Maria, ~8 other rotarians and me)were preparing ourselves to walk one of the world’s most beautiful walks but also the most popular 1 day tramp in New Zealand. The walk is 19,4 km but I just read that it changed to 24,5 km because after an eruption last year part of the track got destroyed. So 09:20 we started walking. It was a beautiful clear and sunny day. After an hour we were both still alive and got to a little waterfall where they filmed part of Lord Of The Rings. We got told that at that spot there were the last toilets for the next 4 hours. Literally holding my breath I went to the most disgusting toilet. We had some food and then we saw a big hill in front of us. The whole walk is in an volcanic area so it’s up and down the craters. There are lots of signs saying ‘volcanic danger zone’. There were still active volcanos that could explode so I guess you’re risking your life walking that tramp. See that’s why I don’t like walking. Anyways, walking uphill in this burning sun was hard but when we got to the top I was relieved. Maria and I grabbed our flags and took pictures. I then heard a girl say: “Oh the Dutch flag! Who’s was it?” “Me!” I said. She was Dutch too! From Haarlem but working or something in Australia. She travelled to New Zealand for 3 weeks. She was with other international people with who we talked. I took a picture with the flag with her and then her French friends turned the flag around and used it to take a picture too!

After our break we continued walking, uphill again because apparently ‘the top’ doesn’t really mean the top. The view was absolutely amazing throughout the walk. When we got to the other ‘top’ you had a sort of dessert on one side and 3 big lakes with the most beautiful blue colour. We had to walk uphill through sand and stones. Quite scary because one wrong step and you slide all the way down or to the side where there was a really steep hill down. All good and well at the other top I sat down exhausted. Of course there was another top. Maria tried to motivate me to walk up so I eventually did. Honestly it was totally worth it. The view was just breathtaking! We took lots of pictures with and without our flags and sat down on the edge just staring at this enormous red coloured volcano. We then wanted to have lunch at the lakes but in order for that to happen we had to go down. There were no steps or a clear way just stoned and sand. Like roller skates you had to slide down. It took me ages and I saw lots of people falling. I didn’t (proud moment). Down we had lunch at the lakes and then we continued walking. Mostly flat. We then got to the part where we had to walk around the mountain and zigzag downhill. That was just horrible. Walking downhill is actually so sore I couldn’t feel my toes man. There was a sign that said that it was dangerous volcanic area and that stops weren’t a smart thing to do. If you see smoke coming out of the volcano it’s a sign that it could possibly erupt. We looked around the corner and this big cloud of smoke was coming out. Oh shit. We just kept walking and walking and saw big lava stones around us from the eruption last year. We made little stops in between and then we got to the forest part. Honestly the worst hour and a half of that tramp. You just walk and walk and walk and hope that around the corner you see the car park but no. Then there was a danger for a ‘Lahar’ so we had to walk the other way through a streaming river. Wet feet? Check.

After 8 hours we came to the end! So proud that we did it we took our shoes off and collapsed on the grass for the next 15 minutes. We took one more picture and then left for home. We stopped by a Chinese take away place for dinner but oh my god worst dinner ever. We both felt sick at night so I think we got poisoned there. The next 3 days I couldn’t move properly because my legs and bum were so sore! After nearly 2 months of no exercise at all I decided to start with a 24,5 km tramp. Why not, yeah why not.

Monday we went to a place to see falcons. They had a show were they showed how they hunt and dive up and down to catch food, very impressive! Also I held one and fed it chicken! It even hopped on my shoulder but his claws were so sharp man!

Yesterday we went to a Maori village. They rebuild it in a forest and had little huts where information/habits/dances were given. They performed the Haka and other dances which where really nice to see! We ended the night with the traditional Maori food; Hangi. It’s not the food that’s special but the way they make it. They basically dig a hole in the ground and make a fire and put some hot stones on it, they cover it and then put the food (chicken, lamb, potatoes, kumara) on top and cover the hole. In that way the food gets cooked by the hot steam. It takes about 4 hours to cook though. The taste of the meat was a little bit dry but the vegetables were yum! You could really taste the earthy taste but I guess that was to expect haha! On the way back home we drove in a bus and our busdriver was a bit crazy! He explained in 62 languages what the Maori word ‘Kia Ora’ means. Hello, Goodbye, Thank you. Then when he noticed I was Dutch he even sang the national anthem of Holland! Take that haha ☺

Tomorrow all the exchange students are meeting at a lake close to here for 2 nights because we miss each other too much after the South Island trip (I’ll talk about that one day).Our chaperones who took us down south miss us too so Karen, one of the chaperones, invited us to her house near the lake! I’m so excited to see everyone again!

The weather has been insane the past few days, soooo hot! I can’t believe it’s Christmas so soon already wow. Happy early Christmas and if I don’t write before next year; HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m going to be celebrating new year’s with the exchange students down in Tauranga at The Mount. A popular spot for the younger people down at the beach, can’t wait! Xx