We made it!! But not without problems.
We woke this morning at 6.40, having both slept through the 6am alarm, despite having gone to bed last night at 9pm. Our bags were already packed so it was just breakfast, make a packed lunch and we were ready to leave.
We drove to the end of the Crossing, at Ketetahi car park, and managed to get on a shuttle almost immediately.
The shuttle bus took us, and loads of other people, to the start of the walk at Mangatepopo car park. We had been warned that it would be very busy, especially as it had rained yesterday, and the weather over the next week is also expected to be bad. The first part of the walk was quite gentle, though occasionally the number of people on the route was slightly annoying.
It is a longish walk, about 19.5 kms, and we set off at 8.30 am.
We were walking North, and the sun was still low and shining into our eyes. Even I had to give in and use the dreaded sun hat.
All went well until we reached Soda Springs, where Mick had a recurrence of his stomach problems. Luckily this was the site of the only toilet for 13 kms, but after several visits, agonising stomach cramps and severe nausea for 45 minutes we decided that there was no way Mick could carry on. This left the problem of the car being at the other end of the track, and trying to get a shuttle back long after most walkers had started.
We compromised, and decided Mick should go back with our little bit of cash and the phone, while I would carry on with the car keys. 5 minutes up the track I heard a loud "Linda!!" and saw Mick following me. As soon as he had started to walk down the stomach cramps and nausea had disappeared. So we both carried on, but slowly, and now a long way behind most of the other walkers.
We walked steeply up hill along a well maintained DOC track, climbing many wooden staircases, until we reached South Crater where ethereal wisps of steam poured out of the ground.
In the distance we could see Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings) though it was frequently obscured by clouds.
The path then ascended steeply again until we got to Red Crater. This was an amazing spot! Views back down to South Crater on one side, and views into the Red Crater on the other.
It's easy to see how the red crater got it's name! This was the highest spot on the walk at 1886m, and there was a strong smell of sulphur in the air.
As we started descending on a steep, sliding, slope of ash we could see the Emerald Lakes in front of us. Two bright green lakes and one turquoise one, coloured by the minerals leaching into the water.
I promise I have not altered the colour of this photo at all, it really was this shade of green!
From here we followed the path across the Central Crater and then skirted round the edge of the Blue Lake (though it was not as blue as the emerald lake!) or Te Wai-whakaata-o-te-Rangihiroa as the lake is officially called.
After this point the path was generally down hill, though still with wonderful views. If you look closely you can see a vertical line in the lower part of the photo, towards the right. This is the road into the final car park!
We could see steam vents on the side of an adjacent hill, and learned this was near the Te Maari crater which had erupted in 2012. Entry to this area of land is still prohibited.
We could see the two lakes for most of the descent which was surrounded by an alpine landscape, full of small plants. The final path, from the blue lake to the tree line was a very windy trail down the steep hillside, extremely well maintained again, and with many warnings not to leave the path as the surrounding alpine landscape was very fragile.
The final 3 kms of the trail were below the tree line and felt completely different. By now our muscles were really beginning to hurt, our feet to ache, and the desire to finish quite strong. At 5pm we finally made it back to the Ketetahi car park and were able to take our walking boots off!
Then it was a quick drive to our motel, a hot shower each, and the rest of our uneaten lunch for dinner. We're trying to stay up until at least 8.30 before we go to bed.
Tomorrow we have a sailing trip booked on Lake Taupo, and we are then moving onto Taumarunui where we have a 'bach' (a NZ holiday home) booked for three nights.
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