It’s Thursday night at the Chateau Tongariro Hotel and we’re discussing what to take on the crossing tomorrow. The restaurant is packed and beams of early evening sunlight are shining through vast, velvet-draped windows.
Being four female foodies we’re not planning to take rabbit food. There’s crackers and smoked salmon, bier sticks and cheese, coffee slice and bananas, nuts and gummy bears. Loads of water (there’s none to be had on the track,) warm hats, sun hats, survival blankets, group first aid kit, gloves, sunscreen, electrolytes. Raincoats? With glorious sunshine and no wind forecast, we finally decide full rain jackets won’t be needed and settle for light windbreakers.
Woo hoo! None of us have done this walk before and we’re excited! We book the 8am shuttle to take us to the start of the track and head up to our rooms. We've splashed out on a room each, costing just over $200 a night which is pretty good value on the whole since we’re in the middle of nowhere (and don't forget the chateau is a stone-cold New Zealand icon…)
Morning dawns bright and clear. We convene in one bedroom (fyi room 103 has glorious views and gets early sunshine) to munch muesli, berries and coconut yoghurt out of cups with teaspoons because there’s no bowls or cutlery provided. It’s a glamping vibe. Then we pack our bags and reconvene downstairs, grab coffees and walk out the big double doors into the freshest mountain air in the world.
When the shuttle pulls up a few minutes later, it’s chocka with smiling hikers.
Our driver Megan gives us the run-down on what to expect from the track. Basically we have to meet the shuttle on the other side of the crossing at either 2.30pm, 4pm or 5.30pm - or she’ll come and find us like a heat seeking missile. She laughs - but we get the message. It rains in Tongariro National Park around 200 days a year so we’re lucky to have such a cracker, she says, although it’s likely to be cold along the tops. We're not worried, there's plenty of warm gear in our bags.
By 8.30am we’re walking!
There’s a few people around us but they soon space out. I’ve heard stories about folk doing this crossing in high heels but everyone seems suitably attired, save one person wearing high-waisted blue jeans which look terrifically uncomfortable but not dangerous.
The sun is shining, the mountain’s looking glorious and it’s a pretty easy 70min amble up through volcanic rocks and alpine meadows to Soda Springs where there’s a couple of toilets and warning signs to ‘turn back now if you’re struggling’.
From here the track steepens as you head towards South Crater and then flattens out onto a giant yellow, desert-like mudflat right below Tongariro. Little wisps of steam puff out here and there from the mountain’s flanks.
We stop for morning tea and take in our surroundings before starting up a steep section which will take us past the Red Crater and towards the Emerald Lakes. The track is built into the side of a hill and it’s pretty narrow in some parts so it’s a blessing to be walking on a day when there’s probably less than 200 people on the entire 19km track, hence no traffic jams.
A frigid wind hits as we near the top and we’re grateful to have brought hats and gloves. It continues to buffet us as we descend the long, scree-like slope towards the lakes - even more green and glamorous in real life than in photographs.
There’s plenty of people about and with the wind still biting we don’t linger long for pictures, pressing on past the crowds to find a nice lunch spot out of the wind. We cross another moon-like landscape before finding a sheltered place looking down towards Lake Taupo and settle in amongst the alpine flowers.
After lunch the landscape changes to golden, tussocky hillsides that wouldn’t look out of place in Canterbury.
Then all of a sudden, we’re walking through forest with tall trees and birds and a rushing stream with icy, milky looking water and we stay in here for about an hour. At ten to four we emerge into the carpark all smiles - and there’s Megan, waiting to transport us back to the land of velvet curtains, open fires and live piano music.
This track is rated one of the top ten day walks in the world and number one in New Zealand and it is an absolute stunner. The landscape is so unusual, so varied and so beautiful you won't regret making the effort to get there.
We flew from Christchurch to Rotorua in mid-November and rented a car for the two-hour drive but the summer season runs from November right through to the end of April. I think 2021 is a great time to go because there can be 1000 people a day on the track when the borders are open for international tourists.
Be aware the weather is changeable, even in summer and the shuttles won’t run if it’s looking too windy or wet. This video from the Department of Conservation has some great advice about the weather and what to bring if you’re planning a trip!
