We arrived in Taumarunui on December 25. Of course, everything was closed, and the streets were almost deserted. Fortunately, the local gas station was open and sold pies, sandwiches, coffee, and ice cream. We would spend the next two days in town to relax, organize resupply, and arrange the Whanganui River Journey, a five-day paddle adventure down the Whanganui River, which is part of Te Araroa. To our surprise, we met many familiar hiker faces in the supermarket and at the paddle briefing on the premises of the canoe hire company that organizes the river journey for (also) TA hikers. After being shown which rapids to avoid starting in roughly ten days when we will meet up with the company further south along the river, we carried on on our journey in TA. The 42 Traverse awaited! That is an MTB and ATV track through Tongariro Forest. Relatively flat in its elevation profile, but with a couple of stream crossings and heavy rain in the forecast, we hurried on and made it as far into the traverse as possible as long the weather was still sunny. Unfortunately, on the second day, we had massive downpours that caused the streams to swell quickly and the crossings to be sketchy and because of hip-depth and strong muddy flow, almost dangerous. Soaking wet but happy, we made it to Tongariro Holiday Park, where we got a cabin and ended up sitting out the rain for two more days.
Then, when eventually, the forecast predicted a good day; however, with high winds and cold temperatures, we made our way into the Tongariro National Park, where we tackled probably the most epic day on TA so far: on our way to Whakapapa Village we would cross the volcanic plateau with the volcanoes Tongariro, Ngāuruhoe and Ruapehu. So, the famous and stunning Tongariro Crossing would be part of today’s section. And the volcanoes did not disappoint: an unreal scenery that reminds us of how tiny, unimportant, and fragile we humans are. There were warning signs from time to time that the volcanoes were still active and could potentially erupt at any time.
We were fascinated by the colors in this vastness: Blue Lake (a cold, acidic lake) lived up to its name, as did the Emerald Lakes, three lakes at the foot of Red Crater. Going up the crater was a bit of a scramble, but the views were mind-blowing (as was the mighty wind). On our way down, we eventually came across a sign that stated that today’s weather conditions were too hazardous to do the crossing … which meant that shuttles were not running. However, we were by far not the only ones hiking in the park today, and, honestly, there were still people poorly prepared for the hike by wearing white sneakers and relatively urban apparel. I don’t want to imagine the situation on a busy day. Later, we learned that, on average two persons per week need to get airlifted from the Crossing.
For the remaining 9 km to Whakapapa Village, we were back at the typical TA trail: slow-going, unmaintained, muddy, and eroded. We tried not to have the last kilometers spoil the splendid crossing experience.
The next day, we stayed in Whakapapa and took a great day hike to the lower and upper Tama Lakes. The weather was on our side, and we enjoyed cloudless views of mounts Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngāuruhoe.
Tomorrow, we will leave the volcanoes and go further towards the river.