Frodo, "Go back, Sam! I’m going to Mordor alone.". Sam, "Of course you are, and I’m coming with you!"

Well, substitute OF1 and OF2 who ventured deep into Mordor with close up views of Mount Doom.  Anyway, leaving JRR Tolkien to his Lord of the Rings fantasy book and getting back to the reality of two old farts on tour.  Actually this blog does drift into fantasy on occasions but today was fantastic.

Firstly, we successfully completed the 19.4km Tongariro Crossing so it's another tick on the bucket list.  (We don't have one but it is the sort of thing that we would put on one of we did).  We climbed 765m and descended 1125m (it was a one way walk). However, the numbers are secondary to a fabulous walk over volcanic landscapes and a little glaciation (L1 would love it). 

The day started at the ridiculous time of 05:45, brekky at 6:15 and bus pick up at 7:00.  The bus was very old (Hino - made in India?) and soon you realised why; the 9km dirt track up to the starting point would have done our little Toyota no good at all. There was low cloud as we left our lodge but this was quickly burned off at height - leaving lovely views of the valleys filled with fluffy cotton wool.  Our bus picked up at three hotels/YHA and we quickly realised that there were many buses from all over the place doing the same thing - it was not just Frodo and Gollum - there were hundreds and hundreds of folk coming with us!  The track was good as it was maintained except for the higher sections and included a lot of steps (up and, particularly, down).  For a bit of excitement there was also a very, very small section of fixed rope (unnecessary on such a dry day).  We started walking steadily uphill in tussock grass country admiring glacial moraines for about a hour.  Here there were two toilets and a queue as big as a One Direction concert.  (disclaimer:. Neither OF has been to a concert by this popular beat combo).  OF1 eschewed the queue and headed for a pyroclastic flow (that's a geographical term not a euphemism). 

The next sections were great.  First a very steep hike up to South Crater with  super views of Mount Ngauruhoe/Doom.  Both OFs were in fine form on this uphill and we were quickly in the crater which has no vegetation to speak of and it was described to us as moon-like. Note: our moon experience is the same as a one direction concert.  It is filled with flows from Mount Ngauruhoe and was very atmospheric.  Then we climbed out of this crater - the path was  not maintained here so we struggled for traction on the rock and ash path - to the top of Red Crater which comprised (you've guessed it) red and chocolate brown rock (from rusting of the iron in the rock) and an active fumarole.  We were on a thin lip here which was like Striding Edge with a brisk breeze trying to blow your hat to America.  However, it was a real photographer's paradise with cone volcanoes, craters and lakes the colour of emerald and blue (called the Emerald Lake, etc.,).  We will be filling pages and pages at this rate....

The descent from the high point was steep fine rock and ash which terrified some of our fellow walkers but these OFs found geriatric scree running the best method.  (As Dad dancing is to real dancing,!). Lunch was taken by the Emerald Lake which is not potable as it gets its colour from dissolved minerals in the water and is acidic (pH 5).

We were on the home leg now but only halfway through the walk.  Firstly, we walked through Central Crater and admired it's lava flows then descended by a zig-zag path through alpine flowers past the The Mai craters which erupted in 2012 and we saw the steam coming out of several vents and the air stunk of sulphur - all very .....volcanic. The last 4km of the path meandered through the tussock grassland then forest to wait for our creaky old bus. One moment of excitement in the forest was a sign which warned of the danger of lahars and asked you to move through the next 700m quickly without stopping and not to enter if you heard one.  The old geography teacher in me sprung into action, explaining that a lahar was a water lubricated debris flow containing razor-sharp pyroclastic rocks

It had been a sunny day and we both drank two litres each.  This was water - we are celebrating tonight with something a tad stronger. This is rated as New Zealand's best one day walk and it certainly is a very special one but sharing it with so many others and the paths made it a 9.5/10 for me.

Currently we are having a preprandial before hitting the station cafe.  Not the sort of place for a celebration dinner?  Well, in the evening it transforms into a smart, white tablecloth, restaurant.  We sampled last night and instantly booked again.

Tomorrow we take our tired legs (and Kivin) to Napier where we plan to look around the Art Deco bits before heading off to our digs to prepare for Wednesday's bike ride around the vineyards.  Next blog will report on our wine adventures...

Cheers!