Tongariro National Park, New Zealand Travel Blogs

Best day walk in New Zealand
Apr 3, 2005 (8 photos)

It was about time I'd experienced what's known as 'The best day walk in New Zealand'. A title like this unfortunately attracts the wrong kind of people. On the ten day walks , you might see 3-4 people each day and maybe even less , where as on a track ...

Sort of Tongariro Crossing
May 25, 2006 (7 photos)

... their hotel - was v nice and said our goodbyes. The weather was attempting to clear up so we went down to the Tongariro National Park to try and do a walk and hope that we might at least see some of the nearby volcanoes. After consulting the tourist ...

Have skis, will fall
Sep 8, 2004 (10 photos)

... south towards the town of Bulls, famous for its bulls would you believe, where we turned left to head north towards the Tongariro National Park, film location for many a boring scene in Lord of the Rings. After 175km on the road we stopped in Ohakune, ...

These boots were made for walkin'
May 29, 2004 (10 photos)

... . I've had a fantastic time here, what with the spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife, and crazy pant-filling activities. Definitely put New Zealand near the top of your list of places to visit. Next stop is the tiny South Pacific island of Rarotonga in ...

Recovering from all night football bash!
Oct 19, 2008

We didn't make it out of bed until 11.30am today after last nights activities. We went and had bacon sandwiches by one of the big log fires - it was great. The snow is still rubbish up the mountains and the conditions are quite poor, so we definitely ...

5 hour bush walk - must need a shave!
Oct 21, 2008 (24 photos)

... Our walk took us along Fisher Track, through the Erua Forest to the Taranaki Lookout. There were some amazing views over the National Park from here. We then continued to Tupapakurua Falls through the dense woods. This was very steep, up and down, and in ...

Tongario National Park - Day 254-255
Nov 1, 2008 (55 photos)

Day 254 - 01/11/08 Woke up with the intention of hiking the famous Alpine crossing through the Tongariro National Park. Unfortunately a cold front is sweeping north across the country today with winds of over 100kph and visibility is zero over 1000 ...

Take me to the Volcano
Jan 7, 2007 (1 photos)

Moving on north today I took the small kiwi traveler bus up to Tongariro National Park home of New Zealand's best 1 day walk. Dan who also got on at Wellington was planning on doing the same walk being one of those travelers who immediately introduces ...

Here's Johnny!
Nov 27, 2004 (5 photos)

... I think I'd have just ended up pissing a lot of people off. We're actually staying in Whakapapa village which is in the Tongariro National Park. As the crossing was off, some of us managed to embark on a few hikes. I took a short hobble around one of ...

Visiting Mt. Doom
Jan 23, 2008 (13 photos)

From Bulls, we drove north towards Tongariro National Park.  We first headed to the Whakapapa Ski Area, which was the scenery used for LOR Mordor. The scenery was fantastic, check out the pics!  We walked around a bit and had great views of Mt. ...

Into Middle Earth
Oct 18, 2008 (40 photos)

After bacon sandwiches in the hostel, we jumped on the bus and headed towards Tongariro National Park (also known as Middle Earth for Lord of the Rings fans). The hostel in Taupo was pretty good actually. It had a tv room, pool table, cheap bar and free ...

Breaking in the camping gear...
Dec 16, 2004 (2 photos)

Spent the morning cruising around a geothermal springs adventure park !! Lots of bubbling mud, yellow sulpher pools and stinky eggs smell. Cool champagne lake orange, blue steaming lake. 10.30 everday geyser erruption, amazing how it goes off at the same ...

Misty Mountains
Jan 8, 2007 (8 photos)

... it was low cloud and grey skies, at least they got the not raining part right. The 7:15am depart to the start of New Zealand's best one day walk certainly upped the better be worth it feeling with the thought of the 6-8 hour hike ahead. Starting ...

On the road to Mordor
Mar 19, 2004 (8 photos)

Oh wow! What an amazing day! I've just spent 7 hours walking the Tongariro Crossing, between the volcanos of Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings) and Mount Tongariro, and it was just the most amazing thing!!! The day started with lots and ...

Volcano country
Feb 3, 2004 (4 photos)

... for the last few days, either raining, or threatening to. The worst thing about that is that it meant I couldn't do the Tongariro Crossing, one of the best day walks in NZ, and one that I definitely wanted to do. There are supposed to be amazing ...

Snowboarding Attempt Number 1
Jun 21, 2005

... start of winter. The weather was like winter as well, with cloud and rain. We left Taupo and drove to Tongariro National Park and stopped at a place called Okahune, the base for Turoa Skifield, with the intention of doing two days snowboarding and one day ...

Mount Ngauruhoe aka Mount Doom
Mar 23, 2008 (19 photos)

The next weekend Kat, Shani, Aaron, me and Aaron decided to drive back South again and visit the Tongariro National park, to walk the famous Tongariro crossing and climb Mount Ngauruhoe. If you speak English you pronounce it: Nara-ho-ee. If you fancy the ...

Mordor
May 11, 2006

... back to The Shire. But alas Middle Earth's temperamental weather had thrown them a snow storm! the walk to Mount Doon (Tongariro) would have to be called off for a second time! A bitterly disappointed pair of hobbits turned back and headed to their car ...

To cross or not to cross...
Nov 22, 2006 (1 photos)

On arrival in Turangi, our base for exploring the national park, we checked into Extreme Backpackers and booked ourselves on the morning (7.30am !!) bus to the start of the Tongariro Crossing. The Tongariro Crossing is the most famous one day walk in ...

Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Aug 12, 2009 (20 photos)

... tonight because we desperately needed a hot shower, heat, and a bed! Today was amazing – our first alpine crossing: Tongariro National Park. The mountains are also known as Mordor and Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings. Our group was small – ...

Tongariro Northern Circuit
May 16, 2008 (28 photos)

Shortly after setting off, Tongariro quickly became our favorite hike (a repeating theme throughout our time here in New Zealand).  We spent four days on this track, tramping over and around volcanoes, alpine lakes and rocky landscapes.  ...

Tongariro National Park
Apr 22, 2007 (7 photos)

... the road We had a non descript day today travelling quite a few kilometers north to the Central Plateau, home of Tongariro National Park. The scenery is somewhat different to the South Island in that it is less stunning. We braved the elements and free ...

Tongariro National Park
Jan 30, 2008 (3 photos)

... is aimed at Skiiers and its out of season so everything was closed, so we booked into the campsite, scenic reserve at Tongariro, and gotta say, for a National Park, it was a bit scummy!!!!! but the next day we did a walk along the rapids, with a bit of ...

The Tongariro Crossing
Jun 8, 2006 (7 photos)

The Tongariro Crossing is often descibed in the brochures as "the best one day walk in New Zealand". This is because it "provides the opportunity to experience some of the most scenic and volcanic areas of the North Island". What they don't tell you ...

Tongariro Crossing
Mar 20, 2009 (29 photos)

... eimal DER beliebteste Tagestrek Neuseelands an (den ich vor 8 Jahren schon mal gemacht hatte), das Crossing des Tongariro Vulkans im gleichnamigen Nationalpark. Alles steht und faellt mit dem Wetter und als ich im Morgengrauen bei Nieselregen meine ...

Tongariro National Park
May 25, 2009 (18 photos)

... so it was good to see them. We then had a picnic and psent most of the afternoon driving North towards Tongariro National Park. In the late afternon we stopped at a terrific waterfall along Whanganui river where a whole river literally falls 7 metres. ...

Much sadness - Tongariro
Nov 17, 2008 (10 photos)

... one of the most gutting days of the trip. The previous day starting off really well - glorious sunshine - we were making our way to Tongariro Park to walk the crossing taking in Waitomo caves on the way - have to admit that we didn't go for any of the ...

Last stop in NZ
Jan 23, 2009 (20 photos)

Again, no text, just photos. We'll try to add that later. Sorry!

Forgotten World Highway - Tongariro
Apr 12, 2008 (28 photos)

... ohne Erfolg... :( Mit Alufolie klappt es doch nicht.... 12/04/2008 Heut war ein total anstrengender Tag! Der Tongariro National Park ist schoen, besonders wegen seiner Vulkane. Da wir den Taranaki nicht ganz geschafft haben, gings heute auf den Mt. ...

Whakapapa and National Park
Sep 23, 2005 (5 photos)

We're staying in a town called National Park, in a hotel that's simple but very nice, and out of our bedroom window is a fantastic view of Mount Ngauruhoe (a.k.a. Mount Doom from LOTR). It's different from our mountains because it stands alone, a round ...