04-06 December 2009, Leader – Bevan Paull

We were accompanied by rain for the duration of the trip to National Park on Friday. However, even though it cleared as we arrived, we were a little pessimistic about our chances of completing the Tongariro Crossing on the Saturday.  The Pukenui Lodge was unattended when we arrived, so we unloaded the car, with four of us in each bunkroom, as instructed.  Tony, Janet, Adrienne and Steve decided to stretch their legs and headed off to complete the Taranaki Falls Track, while Shirley and Barry the other early arrivers, headed up to the Top of the Bruce to have a look around. Although the weather stayed fine, Tony and Steve ended up getting quite wet when they opted to check out the Falls at very close quarters.   Slowly the others on the trip drifted in as the evening approached, as did the Lodge’s duty manager. He lit the fire for us, and confirmed that we were pretty much the only people who had booked in for the weekend, and that we were welcome to all spread out. Not having to cram four into those small rooms made our stay much more comfortable.

The forecast for Saturday was “early showers clearing – fine spells – a few showers in the afternoon”.  It didn’t look very promising first thing, with heavy misty rain obliterating all views of the mountain, but it had stopped raining.  Our bus driver arrived dead on 8 am. She was pretty sure the weather would clear, but double checked we all had coats with us.  The first hour is a gentle climb up the valley – just enough to warm us up. We stopped for our first snack at the end of the valley, prior to the climb.  At this point our group of 16 split into two groups, those wishing to walk at a faster pace went on ahead, while the others decided to take our time, as there was no rush – we were being picked up at 4.30 pm.

We discovered that “The Devil’s Staircase” is no more. In its place, DOC have created an amazing zig-zag track right to the top of the South Crater.  Whilst it is still quite a “puffer”, you can keep up a steady pace on the evenly graded track. It made the climb much easier, and none of us felt sentimental about the demise of “The Devil’s Staircase”.  All this time the weather was clear and as we stopped to get our breath the views of the valley below were very clear. 

Just as we reached the South Crater the mist rolled in, and the prospect of not seeing the view at the top was quite disappointing. At this point Bevan got a text from Nicola asking about the state of the weather - and his reply was “not good….” or words to that effect.  However, ten minutes later, when we were half way across the South Crater and the mist cleared as quickly as it had rolled in.  This is where we saw our next challenge, the climb up to the top of the Red Crater. As we plodded up the ridge, we had great views of the Oturere Valley, where many of us had been before on Mountain Weekend trips.  By the time we got to the Red Crater, it had clagged in again, and many of us didn’t get to see the view from the top. As we started our steep decent down the scoria slope to the Emerald Lakes, the clouds cleared again, the sun came out and we could see the crowds of people below us having their lunch by the lakes.  We stopped there for lunch as well, watching a steady stream of people following in our footsteps.

We had passed a 79 year old German tourist travelling on her own, way back before the South Crater. She had been told at the Visitor’s Centre that the Crossing was too difficult for old folks. However, just as we finished lunch, we saw her coming down the scoria slope, quite capably.  She finished the track just as our bus arrived – which indicates that not all 79 year olds are “incapable old folks”.

Once we had crossed the North Crater we started on the long down hill straight, stopping for afternoon tea at Ketatahi Hut.  DOC have also done a great deal of work on the down hill section of the track, which made it much easier to negotiate.  The weather remained clear enough for us to see excellent views of Lakes Rotoaira and Taupo below us.

As the second group were nearing the car park at the end of the track, Steve, who had finished his tramp a couple of hours earlier, came up to meet us. We finally arrived at the car park at the end of the track at about 4 pm, to find the first group dosing in the sun.  For half of us, it was a first time experience, whilst others had done it several times before. The scenery is something you never tire of, but having done it twice with masses of people, I wonder if next time we do it, we find a way of dodging the crowds. 

While we were cleaning up and restoring our energy with cups of tea, Tony and Peter went on a scouting expedition to find somewhere to have dinner.  National Park has a number of cafés and restaurants, but they are not really geared up for an influx of people in the off-season. We split into two groups, and enjoyed a pleasant meal in two different locations.

Thanks to Bevan for arranging this excellent end-of-year trip.

Janet Gibson