Home » New Zealand » The Plains of Gorgoroth...sort of.

Hey all. Thanks for all the comments, I'll get round to replying soon, I promise. This blog simply covers my 4 days of the Tongariro hike, so I'll try not to waffle..too much.

Deciding to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit itself was the 1st difficult decision; most just do the famous 1-day 'Tongariro Crossing' and leave satisfied with it ticked off their list. But to do the Northern Circuit, and to do it justice, takes 3 to 4 days. I hadn't done a serious hike since my curtain-hairstyle school days of Iceland and DofE, and not sure if my body was up for it. But what the heck? There's no adventure in not trying (which, I know, at times can be a stupid philosophy).

The Plains of Gorgoroth...sort of.

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 18:34:17

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was also used as a Mount Fuji look-alike in "The Last Samurei" and last exploded less than 10 years ago - eek!

Day 4: All goes pear-shaped. Woke up at 2am to hear the pitter-patter of rain and the sound all campers fear - the 'drip'. By 4:30, I woke to find the tent filled with water, but miraculously missing my possessions. In the darkness, I sat fighting a losing battle, scooping water out with the lid of my insect repellent. By now it was getting lighter and figuring I wasn't going to get any more sleep, proceeded to make dashes between my tent and a nearby [clean] portaloo carrying my stuff, the only nearby cover from rain, before messily packing my tent. All before 6am. As a Glastonbury veteran, I was used to this, but must say, the warm hut was looking quite jealously appealing for once, and was finally understanding the laughter from days before.

The walk was not the best, it must be said. For 5 hours, I just kept walking, determined to get to the end, not even stopping for a drink, as having done so would have involved a full 30 minute Jane Fonda workout. So I kept walking, through horizontal rain hurting against my face, strong winds, low visibility, flash-rivers, mud, bogs, where my shoes became swimming pools within the 1st hour and every minute I could squeeze my gloves by making a fist, to produce a long watery trail of drips. When I arrived, cheering, at the Visitor Centre, I looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame walking out of a watery apocalypse. I'll look back on it as a ''physically and mentally strengthening experience".

Overall though, it was an amazing time! The last day was pretty crap, but was lucky the other three days had perfect weather. And now, sitting in Wellington, in clean, dry clothes, I'm wondering what all my fuss was about. It was a great 4 days. Staying in Wellington for a couple of days now, a city I'm already liking, before going back up north while i wait for my Indian Visa to get processed.

Happy Advent everyone - hope you all have chocolate advent calendars (something i'm seriously missing! New Zealanders don't have them that I can find?! Strange people).
Simon x