Sojourn Magazine Spring 2017

SOJOURN//SPRING17
TONGARIRO ALPINE CROSSING
HIKE THROUGH HELL AND BE REWARDED WITH HEAVENLY VIEW
Voted one of the world’s top 10 day treks, it lies in New Zealand’s oldest National Park, in
the central North Island, about six hours drive from Auckland. Here you’ll find weird and
wonderful landscapes, volcanoes, crazy rock formations, steaming vents, jewel-coloured
lakes, ancient lava flows, scalding thermal springs and moon-like craters. On a clear day
you will feel like you’re in a different world with views including Mount Ngauruhoe and
Mount Taranaki, the vast expanse of Lake Taupo and the Kaimanawa Ranges. You’ll be
amazed in each direction. The Tongariro Crossing is both an awe-inspiring and serious
tramp – at 19.4 km long you can expect it to take a good 7-9 hours, depending on your
fitness, the weather and how many stops you take for once in a lifetime photos. But
despite all the advice and warnings The Tongariro Crossing is renowned for its legions of ill
prepared, jandal-wearing, t-shirted day trippers, with little water or training, who think it will
be a “walk in the park. It is an alpine crossing that is almost 2000m above sea level, at its
peak, that deserves full respect. Countless people who have completed it can testify that
its beauty can hide an ugly side if the weather turns.
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