Monday 24th

The day of the Tongariro Crossing dawned after a restless night. The owner of the Adventure Lodge, where we are staying, had outlined the difficulties of the walk and I was very apprehensive about the steep downhill on nothing more than ash. The technique is to dig your heels in and allow yourself to slide. This was a pretty good technique but I did end up on my back twice, which resulted in nothing more than squashed bananas.

Anyway, after a very cold night we awoke to blue sky and sunshine but at 6:45 when we went for breakfast it was frosty. Hang on, I thought this was summer!!!

After a hearty breakfast had been consumed we were given our packed lunch. I took one look and thought I could never eat so much and more to the point I had to carry it. 

2 hours in a banana and a chewy bar were eaten and then a while later the sandwich and squashed banana. The apple was eaten in the bus and the rest is for another day. 1.5 litres of water did get drunk though and as soon as we got back we downed a beer each. Thank you Gwen for insisting John take the beer :-)

The walk itself was far easier than we had anticipated and around every corner there was another spectacular view. 

Mount Ngauruhoe

Red crater

Emerald Lakes

Blue Lake, where we ate lunch

The view looking back as we approached Blue Lake

Traffic light to warn of danger

The reason the traffic lights are there. 15 months ago Mt Maari erupted without warning. We were told that as long as the smoke was white we were safe but that if it changed colour to evacuate asap. 

The path winding it's way down 

The stats from my phone

The elevation

After our return we had a quick beer and then soaked in the hot tub for half an hour. Right now we are looking forward to fillet steak for our tea. The choice was chicken or fillet steak so no contest really. 

And here we are post meal with a selfie of us in our matching t-shirts.