Welcome to Mordor!

Oceania → Australasia → New Zealand → Ruapehu District → Tongariro National Park

march 13, 2009

doing the tongariro circuit is not possible without missing coldplay’s concert, so i decided to hike just the alpine crossing, a full day’s hike, less daring than the full circuit, but offers great view that it is reputedly the best 1-day walk in new zealand. tongariro national park is the first national park in new zealand, and became a world heritage site in 1991. the main park is dominated by three great volcanoes which rise starkly from the desolate plateau, Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro, and Mt Ngauruhoe. the latter being called Mt Doom most recently as it was the volcano used in lord of the rings films, and the entire expanse of the park as the set of fictional land of mordor.

the area is far from tranquility as these volcanoes are not dormant. mt ruapehu, the highest and most massive of the volcanoes, burst into life just last 1995 and then a year later again in 1996. with that, it is safest and most common time to walk the track during summer, which is from december to march. hiking during the winter would require ice axe and crampons, and the experience in using them. the crossing traverses spectacular volcanic geography, from an active crater to steaming vents. several steep path that are really challenging and exhausting, but the view from the top is well worth it. the track passes through varied vegetation and forest zones ranging from alpine scrub, to higher altitude where there is no vegetation at all, and then to subtropical rainforest descending at the end of the track. the whole track is 18.5 kilometers. it starts from mangatepopo valley and immediately climbs to red crater, going down to emerald lake, followed by blue lake where the track sidles around the northern slope of mt tongariro, and then descends in zigzag to ketetahi hut, and down to roadend. the whole walk is not a roundtrip, so tongariro expeditions (shuttle service) made all the arrangements starting from picking from the hostel early in the morning at 6.20, to going back in taupo. i was with diana (coming from taupo too), and met jonas (did the mt tauhara with him) in the area as he is staying in turangi, and then later on met more people, everyone doing the hike by themselves so we just made a group, alex, philip, and sophie. a good thing doing this hike with a group is that, well, first, safety in numbers, and second, the opportunity for someone to take pictures of yourself as the scenery is just too good to miss it!

it is a shame that i only saw mt doom in half. the clouds were so low, (or we were so high?) that the summit can not be seen. however, i saw ice for the first time (not from fridge!), remnants of snowfall the night before. the group is a slow hiker, hehe, but i like it because it gives us more time to look around, take pictures, sit down and have a break, but at the end of it, we lose track of the time and might miss our bus at the other end of the track! the last bus leaves at half past 4, but all of them are staying in turangi, which is just some 40 minutes away, while i stay in taupo, 2 hours north of tongariro, so it will be bigger problem for me if i miss the bus. plus, i have bus ticket leaving taupo early the next day! diana hiked in a faster pace that she left the group. and so, for the last 4 kilometers or so, alex and me were running wildly, crossing the bushes, wooden bridges and muddy forest, and in the end, made it to the end of the track 2 or 3 minutes shy of the deadline.

to sum, the trek is definitely worth it. it really offers majestic views of nature, volcanoes and lakes, and although mt doom was only in half, and in even desperate search for the hobbits, wizards, or gollum, we couldn’t find any, this is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular panorama my eyes laid upon.

the rest of the group’s bus left first, and i just waved goodbye to them. they were really nice people, but i may not see them again apart from facebook. one of the disadvantages of backpacking is that you meet a lot of nice people, but seldom keep as everyone has his own travel plan, which i’ve known for myself as i have my own plans too. meanwhile, i was the only one to be transported back in taupo, so i sat in front beside the driver, mr. albert, who upon knowing i am from the philippines, started to talk in great enthusiasm about the country. he frequents the country, and go there once a year. it was really interesting as this 73-year-old man has been to more places in the philippines than myself. he works during the summer, and vacation for the rest of the seasons. he has travelled the country from north (vigan) to south (mindanao), and knows everything it between. he even knew that sugar cane is the major trade in negros! i swear he must be a filipino disguised under his white skin, and easily betrayed by his unability to speak tagalog! 2 hours was easily passed talking to this man, who was originally from england, and moved to kiwiland as a boy. from the way he tells his story, his memory is so sharp for his age talking about places he has been like subic, baguio, the rice terraces, and his diving adventures in mindoro. i can see from his face the total adoration he has for the country, and he made me think for a moment when out of his excitedness sharing his tales, he blurted, “oh, i’m so happy when i’m there”.

i asked him what is the most negative that happened to him in the philippines, and unsurprised, it was the rampant stealing and pickpockets, but he added more, it’s “the balut egg”.

photos -> here.

* facts from lonely planet