We got the Intercity bus to Turangi, near Lake Taupo. The following day we'd booked on to do the Tongariro Crossing - an 18km trek through the National Park.
The day started with a bitter wind (but it was only 7am and the weather was to improve!). We walked from the car park to Soda Springs which was a nice gentle hike. We then had to climb the Devils Staircase - which was just as the name suggests! It was a 45 minute hike up a big mountain and our legs were hurting at the top! Here we got to see Mout Ngauruhoe, which is used as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings! We also saw an Irish guy in tight leathers taking a photo of Mount Doom with some kind of goblin stuffed toy in view - you get some strange people here! 
We then walked up the Red Crater Ridge. It was steep and narrow and the wind was blowing a gale (it can get up to 60 kph!). There was also quite a bit of loose rocks there. The view at the top was great but then we had to go down - we ended up sliding down on our heels towards the Emerald Lakes (which smelt!). We had lunch (inside the Central Crater) and then walked along to the Blue Lake.
We followed the path down the Rotopaunga Valley (past a large patch of snow, which we played in!) for about 2 hours until we arrived back in the car park. It took us 6 hours and we even had time to sunbathe before the bus took us back to Turangi.
The day started with a bitter wind (but it was only 7am and the weather was to improve!). We walked from the car park to Soda Springs which was a nice gentle hike. We then had to climb the Devils Staircase - which was just as the name suggests! It was a 45 minute hike up a big mountain and our legs were hurting at the top! Here we got to see Mout Ngauruhoe, which is used as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings! We also saw an Irish guy in tight leathers taking a photo of Mount Doom with some kind of goblin stuffed toy in view - you get some strange people here! We then walked up the Red Crater Ridge. It was steep and narrow and the wind was blowing a gale (it can get up to 60 kph!). There was also quite a bit of loose rocks there. The view at the top was great but then we had to go down - we ended up sliding down on our heels towards the Emerald Lakes (which smelt!). We had lunch (inside the Central Crater) and then walked along to the Blue Lake.
We followed the path down the Rotopaunga Valley (past a large patch of snow, which we played in!) for about 2 hours until we arrived back in the car park. It took us 6 hours and we even had time to sunbathe before the bus took us back to Turangi.
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