Day 12- November 14th

R U ready?

A very, very early morning. 4.45AM to be exact. And why were we waking up this early you may ask? We were going to climb mount Doom. Now, if you've seen lord of the rings you will know the infamous mount Doom. And if you haven't, mount Doom- also known as mount Ngauruhoe- is an active stratovolcano (volcano built up of many layers of lava, ash and the likes), and part of the Tongariro volcanic complex. Which is why our hike was named the Tongariro crossing. The last eruption was in 2012, but luckily we only found this out after completing the hike.
We had to get a one hour bus from Lake Taupo to the base of the crossing, and when we got out it was pretty chilly. Lily rented a coat from the bus man, and she and Emma both bought woolly hats to arm them against the cold. We set off at about 7.30.

Looking forward to their hike

We were fairly lucky with the weather the whole day. Although it was cold, it never rained, even though it was forecasted. Supposedly it was 2 degrees, but I don't believe that. There were two steep climbs- devil's staircase and the ascent between south crater and red crater. On devil's staircase I got stuck between two boys who decided they were going to power up as fast as they could. My competitiveness got the better of me, and I made sure to keep up with them, so I wouldn't have to experience the shame of being overtaken! It just really annoyed me how they kept saying how easy it was, even though they were clearly out of breath!! Must be a man thing....

River near devils staircase running black

After this, the climb was much more gentle, and we we made our way up steadily until we reached the top, where it was blowing a gale and so foggy we could barely see 20m in front of us. Needless to say we carried on quickly to the next peak to get out of the wind a bit. The path was very narrow and unstable underfoot with steep drops either side, so we were fortunately that a big gust of wind didn't come along!

Mount Doom looming ominously ahead

I am still disappointed as I write this by our view from the top. We were supposed to be looking out over the gorgeous Emerald lake, but all we saw was this. On a clear day, this would have been spectacular. The brilliant colour is partially caused by the dissolved minerals which are washed down from the thermal area of Red Crater.

What we should have seen

What we actually saw

It was mainly downhill from here, so the rest of the walk was fairly chilled. We passed snow, jumped over rivers and finally got away from the barren, volcanic landscapes and entered the Jurassic looking forest, which was very pretty and we finally heard the birds singing again. It had been eerily quiet along the volcanic ridges. Mount Doom lived up to its name.

Trekin' through the wilderness

We slept well that night.

Loving life