Tongariro Alpine Crossing - Mordor and Back Again - This Wild Life Of Mine

Frodo, Sam, I now feel your pain. Mordor is a tough place. By Mordor I mean the actual, reality-based, non-fictional place by the name of the Tongariro National Park. Travellers flock here in their hundreds to do the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 6- to 8-hour hike across active volcanoes and through huge craters that is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely exhausting. As a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit this place.

The start of the path towards Mount Ngauruhoe

The perfect conical shape of Mount Ngauruhoe, Tongariro National Park

The rugged steps of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The National Park was the site for some of the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with imposing Mount Ngauruhoe being the inspiration for Mount Doom. Not that you actually pass any of the filming locations on the crossing, but shush, that’s not important. I made it to Mordor, ok?? The landscape is barren, but stunning. When the map said I had reached the South Crater, here was me looking around for a hole in the ground. It took me a while to realise that the flat land stretching hundreds of metres in front of me WAS the crater. Yeah, bit of a blonde moment there.

The winding path of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand

Crossing the first crater on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Fog rolls in across a vast volcanic crater in Tongariro National Park

For me, the Red Crater and Emerald Lakes were particular highlights of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The vibrancy of the colours in both the stone and the water were beyond belief. They didn’t look real. Then the smell of the sulphur making the water green hits you, and you really wish they weren’t. Whew, I thought I’d left that smell behind when I left Rotorua. Clearly not.

If you can stand the scent of rotting eggs for longer than five minutes, it’s not a bad place for a spot of lunch!

The vivid green colour of the Emerald Lakes

Taking a break at the Emerald Lakes in Tongariro National Park

The dramatic landscapes of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand

Pressing on, you pass the sparkling Blue Lake and start to head down to the other side of the mountains. Here, you enter a HAZARDOUS AREA, i.e. there’s a hole in the ground that could explode at any moment, so don’t fuck about. No really, we were actually warned that if the white smoke pouring from the Te Maari crater (which did explode in 2012) turned grey or black – RUN. Basically, get the hell out of there ASAP. Fun times, really. A strange little part of me wanted something exciting to happen, but then you see the holes in the roof of the Ketetahi hut (accommodation for overnight hikers that stood between volcanic bombs and where they wanted to go) and you think, yep, let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.

The beautiful Blue Lake in Tongariro National Park

Entering an active volcanic hazard zone on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Coming down on the other side of the Tongariro Alphine Crossing

The winding path at the end of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Smoking craters dot the landcape of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand

But I made it down from Mordor and Mount Doom without causing any catastrophic eruptions. A brief wait for the shuttle bus had me almost napping on the ground because MY WORD did my feet hurt.

Taranaki Falls

The next morning, before my bus, I did a short walk to the Taranaki Falls. I don’t really know why, but I have a major thing for waterfalls. I just love them. The path takes you to the top of the falls first, so you can stand right at the edge, looking down into the pool below. Really cool. After getting back, it was onwards and downwards to Wellington, my next stop.

Personally, I think it’s criminal that there are only three UNESCO World Heritage sites in New Zealand, what with its abundance of natural beauty. I’m just happy that I managed to visit both of the two sites on the main islands.

Standing at the top of the Taranaki Falls, New Zealand

The view from the top of the Taranaki Falls in Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Couchsurfing in National Park

National Park – this time I mean the little nearby town, what a silly name for a town, but anyway – was also my first experience of couchsurfing. For those who haven’t heard of this, it’s basically where strangers open their houses to other travelling strangers in need of a place to sleep. Yup, I know it SOUNDS dodgy, but it’s actually pretty legit. As long as you use your common sense and only stay with people who have references from previous surfers, you should be totally fine.

My first host was a really cool guy called Ed, a Department of Conservation ranger who works in the park. Two nights on a mattress in his living room was actually a lot of fun. It was also my first solo hitchhiking experience, not that I should probably be saying this where my parents can read it! Well, it was either hitchhike or pay somewhere between $25 and $100 for a ten-minute trip. But I was sensible – it was a short trip, a straight road with no turn-offs and an area that would only have tourists and government workers in it. It worked out well – I had a lovely conversation with an English couple in a campervan who had some great advice for me: “when you’re travelling, don’t get pregnant”. Sound advice there.