One of the best day hikes in the world?

Next stop was Taupo, a massive lake which is actually a giant volcano, where we had another couple of hours sailing on a yacht that once belonged to Errol Flynn! Sadly there was very little wind and so the motor had to be used. K has sailed quite a bit in her youth but for me, C, our first sail up in the Bay of Islands (see earlier blog) had been quite breathtaking - zipping along quite quietly with only the wind for propulsion is really quite special, and changing from side to side of the boat when we change tack is great fun.

On the edge of the lake the water steamed hot due to the volcanic element and the area is quite beautiful, but we were really only stopping by here - our destination was the Tongariro crossing, according to the guide book, one of the great walks of New Z, if not the world. We tried to book transport to pick us up from the end of the trail but were told that due to the bad weather conditions the crossing was closed. So we decided we'd drive down to the area anyway with a view to doing a low level walk the next day and seeing if the weather cleared up the following day. When we arrived at the camp site to register we were immediately asked if we wanted to do the crossing tomorrow, to which we replied that we thought it was closed. We were told that the weather could have changed by the next morning and that if we wanted to do the crossing we should come to reception at 0700 and see if it was a go-er. The next morning came, and with it very heavy clouds and wind. We presented ourselves and were told that it would indeed be possible to do the walk and so we paid our money for the transport back afterwards. The pictures tell what the weather turned out to be...

Out of 14 people who set out for the trail head with us, 6 turned back shortly before the summit. A group of four it has to be said much older folk were just in front of us and though it seemed as if we might be blown off the mountain at any minute and though the rain was lashing into us frequently, they seemed quite calm about the whole enterprise. So, we decided to stick with them, and (I think) we are glad we did. We lived to tell the tale, though we descended very, very wet and a few degrees cooler than is generally desired. Our tent, when we returned, had survived its first major test. For 24 hours it had taken a bit of a pasting, but when we climbed in that evening, it was warm and dry. This was after we had rewarded ourselves at the pub across the road with a very fine leg of lamb shank indeed.