The Great Hike
Merten, Thursday, January 27. 2011
So, we are back from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Actually already 24 hours ago, but we were a little too tired to look though the pictures and post ...
Some quick facts on the trip:
Total distance hiked: 19.4 km
Total climbing: 800 meters
Total descent: 1100 meters
Time spent on the hike incl. breaks: 8 hours
The Alpine crossing is basically a oneway mountain pass, that goes between the summits of two volcanoes, so we booked a bus shuttle to take us to the start and back home. Once in a while the weather was perfect for us, and the many many others that were hiking it as well...
After some tough climbing, including the "Devil's staircase", the scenery and surroundings were stunning. But the hardest bit was the long descent, we were quite happy to be down again. So we are looking forward to spring and some good old skating on flat North German roads!!!
After two nights in a superb B&B with our hosts Margret & Kenneth, we are now near New Plymouth in the "Villa Heights", hosted by Rosemary & John. This is a 1900 Victorian villa, and also very nice.
Pictures show us up on the main plateau with "Mount Doom" aka Mount Ngauruhoe, some of our many co-hikers at the "Emerald lakes" and the steep (!) descent from the crater, look for the small coloured dots!
