New Zealand. Taupo day two

So today was the day we attempted the climb across the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It went off to a great start with a fire alarm at 2:30am for half an hour before my alarm went off at 5! Very glad to sleep on the bus when it picked us up!  Despite wanting more sleep the sunrise was lovely and it was great to start on a fresh morning. It was a bit cloudy but we were told it would burn off. 

The 19.4km walk started off really well and the views were of course amazing. The plants were beautiful too with amazing heathers and other alpine plants. 

In order to be able to climb the volcano, we had to be at the base of it by 9:15am. As we had made good time we decided to so the climb. The volcano was used as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings which was were they threw the ring into and where it was made. The climb was so hard! It was so steep and the terrain was terrible. It varied from boulders of lava, small lumps of lava to lava sand. The lumps and sand all gave way under foot and was a nightmare. It was almost verical in paces and so hard! I can't believe how many people were climbing it though. Finally after making it to the top the views were good. Just as good as half way up, but I'm sure I'll appreciate it after the exhaustion has subsided! It was cool to look into a crater with steam coming from a vent on the next peak. 

Getting down was a nightmare and so much harder that going up! The loose stones just fell away under your feet and the descent was so steep and so scary!  Took so much longer to get down that we expected so we. Had to rush for the rest of the day so as not to miss our rude home at the end of the crossing. Massive jelly legs at the bottom!

I'm not sure how many km that volcano added onto the walk, but it was too many! The rest of the walk claimed it only had only more ascent and the rest would be all descending. Such a massive lie! After a walk across the flat to another volcano we then had to climb that too. It was much shorter but far too hard after Mount Doom! Good photo opportunity of the way though. 

After reaching the top of this mountain/volcano not sure which we came to loads of pools of turquoise waters. The smell of Roturua came back! 

So we thought great all the rest is downhill! But such a lie! After another climb up to another crater full of water we realised we were really short of time to get back to our bus at the end of the track so unfortunately the rest of the walk was in too much of a rush to fully enjoy the spectacular views. 

The views of the enormous Lake Taupo (big enough to fit Singapore in) with the mountain rage and the steam chugging out of one of the many active volcanoes was awesome. 

After rushing the last 8km or so I have never been so happy to see the carpark where we were getting collected! It would have of been so good to have another couple of hours to do it to fully appreciate where I was. I think had had half the mountain in my shoes too! It was great, but very glad I never have to do it again!