17th Nov: Te Araroa 47
Tongariro National Park Crossing.
One of our goals was to cross the Tongariro Crossing which is part of the TA trail, I have done this in the past and with perfect weather it’s one of the best short walks you can do on the north island.
So nice to just stay in our tent, other option was to dress in wet clothesÂ
However the weather wasn’t definitely on our side, two days back I knew that there was a window of opportunity this Friday where accordingly to my weather app (underground weather) the winds were less intense and some sunlight.
To cold and wet to cross.
We made the long walk to the main road and then to the camp site where we had planed to stay before attacking the crossing. We asked the lady at the campsite and also updated our weather app via mobile data and both reports were not very favourable.
A typical days track
The weather was no good with wind speed of 65km and temperature hitting lows of -5 degress. As we stood there with our boots, pants and tops wet, it wasn’t hard to decide what to do. The lady in the camping ground also said that anything above 55kph, they stop taking tours up there.
Getting ready after packing up the tent for a long days hike
So we left and made our way to National Park where we got a lift and then onto Ohakune where we would get ready for our next adventure of canoeing down the Whangarei river for 4-5 days.