Tongariro Crossing

After our exciting bungee experience (awesome video coming when we find good internet) it was back into the van, headed further north. About two hours north we ended in Tongariro National Park. There is a famous day walk there called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Unfortunately, the crossing was partially closed due to volcanic activity. I guess frying tourists in frowned upon. We stayed at a campground with great views of the volcanos, and they convinced us that the part of the crossing that was open was worth it, so we signed up to do it the next day. Our bus left bright and early at 6:15 AM. The campground suggested going early to avoid walking with all the other people who show up at about 8. We were able to walk out to Emerald Lakes and then turn around and head back. The scenery was different than anything we have ever seen, very desolate, in the shadows of volcanos. It took us about 2.5 hrs to hike. At the high point of the hike we hung out for about 45 minutes waiting for the clouds to clear. They seemed to constantly blow in and out, so we got several great views of the surrounding areas. We were glad to have hiked so early because it was much cooler, and we passed about a million people on our way down who were just starting their hikes. By 1 PM we were back to our camper van and headed towards Auckland. This would have been a stunning hike if we could have done the whole thing, but half of it was still fun and very different from what we had seen thus far in New Zealand.