Luckily the volcanic risk was normal
Mount Tongariro last erupted about 15 months ago and there are 2 other active volcanos in the area, Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu, the tallest at 2800m.
It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze and looming over us was Mount Ngauruhoe
Mount Ngauruhoe
Mount Ngauruhoe was used as the basis for Mount Doom in the Lord Of The Rings films.
The start of the track
The start of the track had a wooden path laid down, but only for a few hundred meters.
View back down the track from about half way up
About half way up, just before it got really steep
The South Crater, like walking on the moon but with gravity. And air. And it was warm. So not really like walking on the moon, but that's what it seemed like.
Apparently the next Star Wars film will have scenes filmed around this crater and these vilcanos. We would be going up and to the left to the summit of Mount Tongariro.
Me at the summit of Mount Tongariro (1978m), with Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruhapehu in the background.
Blue and Emerald lake, with josh just after he put his hand over a steam vent to see how hot it was (it was very hot!).
You can just about see some steam coming out of the peak behind Blue Lake at the back left of the photo, this is where it erupted 15 months ago.
We came down the way we went up walking about 20km and climbing 996m, Josh tried lifting his arm up and down to try and get his altimeter up to 1000m of ascent, but it didnt work.
On the way back we stopped at Hula Falls on the Waikato river. The river narrows to about 15m where the falls are, and water flows over it at over 200,000 litres/second. It isn't very high, but it is quite loud and powerful.
Huka Falls, from a secret track
While we we looking around a kiwi approached us asking us if we wanted to do something crazy, after a few seconds of trying to work out what he was talking about he said he was taking a couple of other people down a secret track which leads to a cave under the falls, we we a hit hesitant but went along with it. Brendan took us and another couple (which his dad had picked up hitchhiking, and they were now camping on his lawn) round the metal railings and on to a small path, which you could only see if you were looking for it. Along the way he asked if we all had our wallets and phones, and I immediately thought he was going to mug us and then push us into the river (he didnt though, and I felt bad for thinking that he would because he was genuinely a nice guy and I think he was proud to be showing us this path that is only known to a few locals), he went on to explain that he recently had his car broken into in the car park and that it was safer to have valuables with us. As we approached the cave, the sound of that falls was deafening and he gave us instructions and some vague safety advice, which involved him slamming you against the rocks if you slipped (fortunately nobody did, as I am not sure if this safety technique would have worked)
The cave is just behind the branches of the tree.
Josh and Ingrid along with the girl went into the cave, and got soaking wet.
Josh coming out of the cave
On the way back we stopped at a bit where the river hat cut a tunnel under the ground, and Brendan was going to swim through it and out the other side, and asked if anybody else wanted to do it. It was about 6m long, but the waves created by the falls made it look pretty rough. There was no safety advice this time and only the girl was brave (or stupid) enough to do it. When we got back to the carpark he gave us his business card and his name was Brendan Wolf, and his business was adventure tourism, and he did all this stuff all the time. If we had known this before, we would have been a bit more trusting in his safety techniques!
Bonus photos
This is a 360° panoramic shot, not sure what it will look like when not shown on my phone.
great to hear and see that you're enjoying the county, keep on keeping us posted
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