IMAGES: GETTY; ALAMY. ILLUSTRATION: TANYA COOPER
ITINERARY TWO
1. Mount Ngauruhoe 2. Emerald & Blue Lakes 3. Oturere Hut 4. Ohinepango Springs 5. Rangipo Desert 6. Taranaki Falls
ITINERARY TWO TONGARIRO NORTHERN CIRCUIT, NORTH ISLAND Start & finish: Whakapapa Village • Hike length: Four days/28 miles
Volcanic Tongariro, New Zealand’s oldest national park, has dual UNESCO World Heritage status for both its landscapes and Māori associations. And it’s here that you’ll find the North Island’s greatest walk. It begins deceptively enough: starting out on boardwalks, you pass over clear streams hidden beneath bronze tussocks, before the path disappears and your boots are crunching on black pumice and lava flows as you climb towering Mount Ngauruhoe. From here, the Tongariro Northern Circuit weaves past the country’s most active volcanoes, traversing a landscape dotted with lakes, cold-water springs and the jagged remnants of past eruptions. The Tongariro Northern Circuit’s greatest
asset is its flexibility. While it’s technically a four-day wander, hikers can skip the final day if they want less walking. There’s also the popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is ideal for hikers short on time. The one-day, 12- mile walk covers the first day of the circuit and takes visitors to the Emerald and Blue Lakes and Mount Ngauruhoe crater before sinking back below the bush line. While a single-day option is enticing for many, step off the Alpine Crossing and the rest of the trail is far quieter as it passes through a raw landscape forged by ice and fire, where Māori legends tell of jealous love feuds between the volcanoes.
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HIGHLIGHTS MOUNT NGAURUHOE
Currently dormant, this volcano is one of the country’s most active and has erupted 61 times from 1839 to 1974. Hikers needn’t fear a mid-hike explosion as the volcano is closely monitored. Its brooding face and perfectly shaped cone made it an ideal stand-in for Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings films.
EMERALD & BLUE LAKES
These dual lakes pop like jewels against the dusty brown landscape. While beautiful, the lakes get their hues (and sulphuric rotten-egg aroma) from the volcanic minerals washing down from geothermal parts of the mountain, making them unsuitable for swimming in. They’re also sacred to the local Māori tribe, who ask visitors to avoid touching them.
OTURERE HUT
Your second night is spent at Oturere Hut, where you can watch Mount Ngauruhoe steam like a cauldron as the evening mist seeps down the slopes. The trail here passes over thick lava spurs and offers a distant preview of the Rangipo Desert. After dropping your bags and settling in, follow the signs to a nearby waterfall over the ridge from the hut.
HOW TO DO IT: Winter ice, snow and avalanches mean the Tongariro Northern Circuit should only be walked mid-October to mid-April. Hikers must book ahead to stay in the three public huts; Adrift Tongariro and Walking Legends offer three-day guided hikes with transport, meals and hut bookings.
doc.govt.nz lovetaupo.com
adriftnz.co.nz walkinglegends.co.nz
OHINEPANGO SPRINGS
Surprisingly, given the area’s prolific hot springs due to its close proximity to a volcano, this gin-clear spring isn’t heated. That doesn’t make it any less inviting to soak in and refresh your trail-weary feet after arriving at Waihohonu Hut on the third day.
RANGIPO DESERT
One of the world’s largest eruptions, 5,000 years ago, created this ‘wet desert’, which receives ample rainfall but is unable to retain it, thanks to its coarse soil. Take time to admire the unusual volcanic boulders hurled by Mount Ngauruhoe during its eruptions.
TARANAKI FALLS A final two-hour looped detour brings you to this 20-metre-high waterfall, then passes Tama Lakes and a series of gullies forged by volcanoes over millennia.
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