A middle aged soil conservationist picked us up in Rotorua and drove us to Taupo, stopping to show us Huka Falls, the Wairakei Geothermal Lookout, and the Aratiatia Dam/river (where Bilbo helps the dwarves escape in barrels in The Hobbit), while simultaneously sharing his grievances about inconsiderate tourists and the exponentially growing population of them in New Zealand. As a local of a touristy town I totally understood, but his sentiments still made me feel guilty about being there, and helpless because the flow won't stop unless New Zealand stops being breathtakingly beautiful.
We got the last two beds in the cheapest hostel and decided to book a bus for the Tongariro Crossing the next day, noted as being one of the best day walks in the world. It would have been, had the trail not seemed like a literal human highway. We woke up at 5 and started hiking at 7 and the first section was still packed with hikers on everyone's heels. After the first two hours it thinned out but never ceased to be a steady stream of people.
So at that point, the "trail" we were warned had highly dangerous rock slides, no definite markers, and a three hour side trip seemed quite appealing to me. Mount Ngauruhoe, or Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings, was one of the hardest mountains I've summitted. There was no escape from the sun, and climbing up rock scree that seemed at about a 70 degree angle prompted a lot of rests. However I'd do it again for the view. At the top there is an immediate drop to the huge crater in the middle, and steam vents in various areas. From the top you can see coast to coast on a clear day, and although I didn't, I still saw the beautiful emerald lakes, the neighboring, snow covered mountain of Ruapehu, and many others of course.
The hike took us seven hours which called for a nice dip in the crystal waters of Lake Taupo (and the perfect temperature, if not warm, for a Vermonter). Wish we could've spent longer there!
