Te Araroa Pt. 13

Day 62-64

Day 62-64, 18-20 Jan 18

Taking this time to rest and move to National Park Village where I will take a shuttle to do Tongariro. I have to do this due to time constraints, and also due to a little weakness.

This must have been my most expensive rest yet. Due to the lack of my backpackers' accommodation in Taumarunui, I had to stay in a family sized motel room which cost me $90 a night. But you get what you pay for, the place was really comfortable and a lot better than a hostel (or tent). Big, spacious room with 2 beds. Feels just like home (no I don't have 2 beds at home it's just figure of speech).

Speaking of home its been so long since I left home. I'm beginning to miss my old life. This trip certainly dispelled any romantic notion I had of a nomadic, outdoors, restless lifestyle. I long for somewhere I can settle down, and I long for company. The grass always seems so green; the city dweller always wants to get out of the city but the peasant always wants in to the city. When I got to the other side, it was overgrown with thorns everywhere, slippery and narrow tracks, and muddy paths down dark jungles.

Nevertheless I have to push on. My Tongariro journey would be great because I only have to carry water and weatherproofing. And the scenery up there must be spectacular. Might be the first time that I get good pictures.

Day 65

Day 65, 21 Jan 18

Spectacular.
My 4am shuttle to Tongariro was cancelled and the lady was kind enough to give me a free upgrade to the 2:15 one instead. Normally that would be a downgrade but I'm very much mad at this point.

I did not have a pleasant sleep due to snoring strangers. Nevertheless I woke up on time and pretty excited. Due to some poor planning I had put my socks into storage and had to go with no socks. Also my pack was still not very light despite it containing close to nothing. Doesn't matter.

I joined a group of three and a guide with a name of Jarl or something. He was ridiculously energetic and cheerful for someone waking up at 2am. We drove up the pitch-black unlit roads and began the climb up the pitcher-blacker starlit track. It was beautiful. It was the first time I had seen the milky way in my life. Though faint, it was still there hanging in the sky. I kept thinking of this: the magnitude and magnificence of the universe!

Everything went smoothly during the ascent. The few times we stopped I spend looking at the magnificence of it all. It was an alien experience. Hiking at night, and in an alpine environment no less! The surrounding peaks were black silhouettes against the dark purple sky. They were featureless and formless in the dark, only jagged peaks thrust up from the ground into the heavens. Sometimes we would pass by gurgling streams, crystal clear and I would also think divinely clean and pure. The stars would be reflected in the swift flowing water and gave it the appearance of some holy sparkling ambrosia gushing down from heaven. I wonder where it comes from? Water so clear and fresh, what produces it and who regulates its flow?

We steadily progressed up the well-formed track to the viewpoint. By now streaks of orange and yellow could be seen on the horizon. We stopped at a large rock face that shielded us from the cold, harsh wind. The ground there was slightly warm from volcanic activity and at some places you could see steam miraculously rising out of the ground.

I spent the next half an hour in a photo taking frenzy. This was an unique opportunity and I was not going to miss a single shot. The only regret I had was a lack of gear. Would be great to take a time-lapse, a telephoto shot of the sun, a long exposure of the swift streaking clouds... The thing about gear is you never need it when you have it, but when you don't have it you always need it.

It was amazing.
The clouds formed in all sorts of wild shapes and formations. Some dragged out from a peak like an explosive spray of orange paint across the sky. Some formed domed caps above the peaks. You could see the base of the domes swirling and churning, but never was the structure broken. Others formed shields around slopes. Again there was lots of activity at the edges, but they never moved and always stayed true. And there were those that rose and fell in an arc. Photographs cannot recreate the amazement and fascination these phenomena invoke in me.

Spectacular.
All this while the sun, a distant red disc, was slowly making its way up the sky. And as it did so the colors shifted and morphed. Every moment was different from the previous. It was a dynamic display of the great artist that is Nature.

After feasting our eyes on this glorious light show, we proceeded with the descent. It was fairly smooth-going. We met some people coming up the other way. I could have been one of them. I a way I was lucky I cheated, because they would never be able to witness what I just saw.

This must be the best part of my entire trip so far. It has left a lasting memory in my mind. I have witness so much, and not just views, but also feelings, thoughts, emotions.

Thoughts

Really exciting climb, you can see from the length of my entry that it was really quite memorable. It took up two whole pages on my journal, most of the time I would write for a little less than one page. Really grateful to the company for putting me on that trip. It was one of the smaller ones, and unfortunately I cannot remember their name now. I have tried searching and only found results with tours costing hundreds of dollars, they're definitely not the right one.

The track is in quite good conditions. To be honest you really don't need a guide to do this. All you need is a strong headlamp, water, and good weatherproofing. Also check the weather beforehand.

10/10 recommended. Honestly the volcano isn't even that scenic in summer, but the sunrise was epic. If you were to climb this at noon I expect it to be really tiring and boring. However in the early morning with a refreshing 0°C wind, and always being on maximum focus, it was pretty fun. In the dark you really notice the silhouettes, the gurgling water, the stars, the wind, the colors.