As we approached Tongariro National Park, snow-capped peaks loomed out in the distance. Both of us expressed excitement at the possibility of being on top of Mount Tongariro the next morning. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing begins in Whakapapa Village, which mostly centers around the Chateau Tongariro, with a ski lodge and holiday park in close vicinity. We pulled into the holiday park and procured a campsite with this view out the back of our van.
It was mid-afternoon and neither of us was ready for dinner yet, so we decided to check out the Chateau. Picture a fancy hotel lobby from a movie, and you'll be in the ballpark of Chateau Tongariro. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace, and the waitstaff was cleaning up for high tea. We found a cozy nook by a picture window where we could read a bit and consider the mountain's majesty. As we left to head back to the holiday park for dinner, we saw a poster for the hotel cinema. They were showing The Dark Knight at 7:30, so we agreed to return for movie night.
Here's a picture of the kitchen/dining area at the holiday park. This is pretty typical for Department of Conservation (DOC) sites.
After dinner and movie, we settled in for a night of sleep as the river roared below.
ROAM, the shuttle company that takes trampers/hikers to the beginning of the Alpine Crossing and then picks them up at the end said they would make a call about whether they would run at 6:45 Friday morning, so that's when Alan hopped out of the van and made his way to the office. He saw an employee fueling up a shuttle bus, which seemed like a good sign, but alas, there had been avalanches reported the afternoon prior, and the forecast wasn't great for the day. They would not be running, so our plans were dashed. We were both fairly sad about this. Not only had our hopes of hiking Taranaki been crushed, but now we were being told the Alpine Crossing was out as well.
We were determined to get out and use our legs, so we took the advice of the ROAM employee who told us to do the five hour out and back hike to the Tama Lakes instead. It was a well maintained trail with only a couple of stream crossings and a bit of a climb at the end. For all the LOTR fans out there, the Tongariro area was used for scenes in Mordor and possibly the Dead Marshes. Here are pictures from our hike (check out the picture gallery over in the right column of the blog for even more great pics), which might not have been the Alpine Crossing, but was still pretty cool.
Here's a picture of the kitchen/dining area at the holiday park. This is pretty typical for Department of Conservation (DOC) sites.
ROAM, the shuttle company that takes trampers/hikers to the beginning of the Alpine Crossing and then picks them up at the end said they would make a call about whether they would run at 6:45 Friday morning, so that's when Alan hopped out of the van and made his way to the office. He saw an employee fueling up a shuttle bus, which seemed like a good sign, but alas, there had been avalanches reported the afternoon prior, and the forecast wasn't great for the day. They would not be running, so our plans were dashed. We were both fairly sad about this. Not only had our hopes of hiking Taranaki been crushed, but now we were being told the Alpine Crossing was out as well.
We were determined to get out and use our legs, so we took the advice of the ROAM employee who told us to do the five hour out and back hike to the Tama Lakes instead. It was a well maintained trail with only a couple of stream crossings and a bit of a climb at the end. For all the LOTR fans out there, the Tongariro area was used for scenes in Mordor and possibly the Dead Marshes. Here are pictures from our hike (check out the picture gallery over in the right column of the blog for even more great pics), which might not have been the Alpine Crossing, but was still pretty cool.
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