21-24 January 2022

Leader: June Shelton

We completed the circuit in 4 days, and walked past some dramatic volcanic landscapes, from alpine vegetation to rocky lava forms and desert-like plateau with amazing changes of view at every turn.

Day 1 – Whakapapa Village to Mangatepopo Hut

We started heading along the road around 7:30 am, arriving at Whakapapa Village just before midday. It took us only 2½ hours to tramp to Mangatepopo Hut. The weather was beautiful, in fact it was a bit too hot. We ventured through a landscape carved out by lava flows and stream beds; other than some small bumps in places, it is reasonably flat.

It was quite early when we arrived at the hut, so we wandered off to Pukekaikiore, one of the older steam vents in the Tongariro area. After an hour of exploring, we were back in the hut for the 'hut talk'. Tobias the ranger is a very enthusiastic young man. He told the ancient love story about the devoted lover Tongariro and his victory; and All Black’s Haka origin and meaning. It was very entertaining.

Day 2 – Mangatepopo Hut to Oturere Hut

We joined the popular Tongariro Crossing on the second day - it was another bright and sunny day, fluffy clouds drifted across the clear, blue sky. We climbed steeply up to the top of Red Crater, then slid down to the Emerald Lakes, and we found a nice spot for lunch at Blue Lake.

After lunch, we left the Tongariro Crossing behind, and headed towards Oturere Valley. Oturere Hut seems to have the highest traffic of them all in the Northern Circuit. Some walkers complete the circuit in two days and stay here for the night between.

The beauty of a Great Walk, is you meet people from all over the world, especially some interesting ones. We definitely met a few right there in Oturere Hut. Start with the chilled and relaxed ranger Danielle: she was in her 80s housewife dress when we first spotted her. She read out her welcome note at the hut talk, then disappeared into the Warden’s Quarters. There was a man who arrived at the hut with a 25 kg suitcase, and sat at his laptop trying to make a hut booking right there and then. There was no booking available but he was lucky enough to score a bed as someone who had made a booking but didn’t turn up. Somehow he managed to book a campsite for the next hut - funnily enough he hasn’t got a tent. Another man was trying to get radio reception using a fishing rod.

Day 3 – Oturere Hut to Waihohonu Hut

We didn’t leave Oturere Hut until 9:00am, as we knew it was going to be a short day. We walked on an open gravel field for a while, then when we came to a branch of Waihohonu Stream, we decided to check out Waihohonu Springs, which is marked on the map with a cross sign. We left our packs in the bush, and went off along the stream, up and down the stream bed and bush-bashed our way to where the mark is, but there was no sign of the springs. So we turned back to where we started and had some lunch before heading to the hut.

We took a side walk to Ohinepango Springs after we settled in to Waihohonu Hut. It was a nice and relaxing evening in the hut.

Day 4 – Waihohonu Hut – Whakapapa Village

On our final day, the weather had decided to add some spice to the consistent sunshine and blue sky of the previous three days. It drizzled for quite some time as we headed west towards Tama Saddle. We did a detour to Lower and Upper Tama Lakes. We stopped at Taranaki Falls for lunch before returning to our starting point at Whakapapa Village.

As soon as our phones started beeping at us with messages and emails, we knew the journey had come to an end. A cold drink to celebrate, and another walk can be ticked off the bucket list.

Until the next adventure….

Those on the trip were:

Rob Dey, Yingjun Shelton

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.