A new blog, a new adventure later this month to blog about. Instead of doing Australia Day holiday in Australia, where better to do it than in New Zealand, and then spend the week tramping around a North Island volcano?
The plan is to head to Auckland on the Sunday of the long weekend, then down to Taupo the next day to buy provisions and purchase hut passes. We’ll then find a way to get to Tongariro National Park, the venue for our tramp.
Instead of doing the Tongariro Crossing, which is a one-day hike that all of the tourists seem to do, we plan to spend four days doing the Tongariro Northern Circuit. This is a walk in the centre of the North Island that circuits around Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe, both volcanoes. The Kiwis talk about this area being a desert, because the volcanic plateau hasn’t been recolonised by plants. The national park is a World Heritage Area, and is meant to have some stunning scenery.
My return trip is via Wellington for a night, so I can fly back to Melbourne the next day. But it seemed that there were no hotel rooms for love or money in Wellington that night, on account of the Rugby 7s tournament being held that weekend. After a bit if a booking hiccup, I’ve got a roof over my head for the night, and might get to see some passionate NZ rugby fans in action. Could be interesting.
