{"id":30861,"date":"2017-05-25T11:21:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T09:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/autour-du-tongariro\/"},"modified":"2020-07-06T10:02:20","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T08:02:20","slug":"around-the-tongariro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/en\/around-the-tongariro\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the Tongariro"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
DISPATCH<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Taupo, a pretty town on the banks of the gigantic lake of the same name, welcomes me after a long bus ride. It is the center of the North Island and a volcanic region. The lake is in fact a gigantic caldera filled with water. The Tongariro National Park where I plan to go hiking the next few days is located a few kilometers from the city. Marie and Niel, the New Zealand cyclists I met three weeks earlier<\/strong><\/a>, welcome me with joy. They have a pretty house painted blue in the outlying districts of the city. They kindly agreed to keep my things and my bike during my hike.<\/p>

I join the park hitchhiking. Which is not an easy task. Winter is close and the vast majority of tourists have left. Not many people on the small roads that bypass the volcanic massif. A couple of French backpackers, a kiwi and Chinese folks finally take me to the information center where the hike begins. The park is home to a chain of more or less active volcanoes, several hikes and a ski resort. I embark on the Northern Circuit, a four-day hike around the Tongariro and Ruapehu volcanoes. This is one of the country’s Great Walks. The most beautiful long hikes in New Zealand. The first part crosses the long desert plain extending around the mountains. Lava flows have long been recolonized by vegetation. There is nobody here and I appreciate the soft rays of heat of the sun on my skin. Mangatepopo Hut appears with the sunset and I set up my tent not far from the refuge marvelling at the change of colors on the volcanoes in the background.<\/p>

The next day I attack very early to try to avoid the flow of tourists doing the Tongariro Crossing. The crossing is a day hike crossing the most beautiful parts of the massif. It is also the most visited part. The Northern Circuit follows the same route on the second day. Even early, it is the line on the trail. The weather is a little overcast and the wind has forced bringing with it layers of fog. I attack the rise of several craters fighting against the gusts. On the other side, the superb Emerald Lakes light up the landscape. The emerald and turquoise waters attract all eyes. A red crater also fascinates me. A strange hole seems to have pierced the volcano. It is an old magma feeding pipe. Harder than the ashes and the slag which surrounds it, the erosion left it exposed on the side of the crater.<\/p>

I spend a long time observing the evolution of colors according to the passing clouds. Smoke rises at the end of the white veil from several places in the ground. A slight smell of sulfur floats in the air. The trail finally leaves the Tongariro Crossing and I leave the tourists to sink into the Oturere valley. Basalt columns rise from the ground. Beyond the massif spreads the deserted Rangipo. It is the great desert plain which surrounds the massif and which I crossed by bus. The soil is too poor there and the winds too strong for the vegetation to grow. The fog returns and I walk a little blindly along a lunar plateau. Only a few tussock shoots grow there. Oturere Hut appears and I spend a cold night agitated by gusts of wind.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t