Taupo - Skydive and Tongariro Crossing

On the way to Taupo our first stop was at the Bubbling Mud Pools - In 1925 New Zealand’s largest mud volcano was eroded by heavy rain and you can now see bubbling, erupting mud which makes for some good photos!



We then stopped at the Lady Knox Geyser which erupts at 10.15 every morning. We were all a little suspicious of this however we discovered that it is triggered by soap introduced by a park guide which breaks the surface tension of the water causing the eruption. We learned that if left alone the geyser would erupt on a rough 24 hour cycle but it would be impossible to predict the time.



From the geyser when headed into Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. This park was similar to Hells Gate but was spread over a much larger area with large boiling Champagne pools, craters, blowholes and colourful mineral terraces.

The highlights of the park were:

Collapsed Craters - formed over the last few hundred years by the action of acid water. The minerals mixed with the water create lots of different colours.



Champagne Pool - The name comes from the fact that the water is Champagne coloured and bubbles as carbon dioxide is discharged into the pool. There was a lot of steam around when we visited. Among the many minerals being deposited in the rock that surrounds the pool are antiimony, mercury, thallium, gold and silver.



Bird’s Nest Crater - This has been adopted by certain species of birds as an egg incubator.

Lake Ngakoro - A 750 year old crater lake.

There were many other cave and rock formations all around the park. There was even a lake where the water appeared bright green.

Back on route to Taupo we made a quick stop at the Huka Falls. At this point I decided to do a Sky Dive so was collected by the Tandem Skydive minibus and headed over to the airfield. Because the weather had been nice all day I was expecting to get out of the bus, gear up , get in the plane and jump - but unfortunately the clouds started to drift in.

The jumps were stop start all afternoon and I was begining to resign myself to the fact that I wouldn't get to jump when finally my name was called and I had to get suited up - complete with cap and goggles. We watched a safety video and I was introduced to my Jump Master - the guy I would be strapped onto for the tandem jump.

I slid onto the bench in the plane infront of the Jump Master and was attached by harness - we were sitting backwards in the plane as we left the ground and started to climb. Because the skydive was cheap in comparison to the UK I had opted for the 15,000 ft jump complete with DVD which meant a camera man would be jumping out with me. We climbed to 12,000 ft and the door rolled back and those jumping at the height slid out one by one - it was then I realised how cold it was up there. The doors closed and there was only two of us left to jump - the first guy went then it was my turn. The jump master controls the jump and you sit on the edge of the door with your feet dangling over the edge - pretty scary. In a second we tumbled out and I felt my body being pulled backwards into a roll - the instructor then pulled the stabalising chute and we entered freefall. The camera man was with us all the way and floated right up to me to shake my hand. The wind was really pressing into my face, then the main chute was pulled and the fall began to slow. I had lots more time then to admire the view as we spiralled towards the ground. The landing was fine at first but the camera crew and the people who are supposed to be there to catch the chute were too far away so we collapsed in a pile. After a final bit of filming on the ground we headed back to the hangar to get changed - we then made our way to the video room where they had edited a DVD for each of us. The DVD shows all the jumps from the plane and its good to see other peoples reactions. In the end I got a photo CD a DVD and a T-shirt to take away - A fantastic experience!

Checkout the photos:



(Oh my!! What's going on?)



(Admiring the view)



(Finally enjoying the ride.)

The hostel was really good - The Tiki lodge - it wasn't too crowded so it was easier to talk to people.

The next day I had signed up to do the Tongariro Crossing often described as the best one day walk in New Zealand.



I was picked up a 6.45 am to go to the start of the walk. The driver was an old guy who really should not have been driving never mind operating the stereo and his mobile phone at the same time - he drove off with the driver door open and jumped a couple of red lights before we arrived at the start of the walk to meet our guides.

The guides provided us with extra equipment such as waterproofs and fleeces, hats, gloves and sun glasses. We were also given ice axes and crampons as there would be a lot of snow and ice on the crossing. We set off at about 8.30 to join the track which runs the Mangatepopo Valley to the saddle between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe Mountains. Two lads joined the trek who had been staying out in a hut in the mountains overnight (mental!)

First we went through areas of light snow then the snow got thicker as we climbed higher. We also saw Mt Ruapehu used as Mordor and the seat of Sauron the lidless eye in Lord of the Rings!!

We climbed to Red Crater (1886m) where we stopped for lunch.


Even though there was snow everywhere on the the top of the mountain was hot earth which made a good seat. While we were having lunch it started to snow so we quickly finished our lunches and dropped down to the vivid Emerald Lakes. After passing the Green and Blue lakes the track sides around the northern slope of Tongariro, then descends in a zig zag to the Ketetahi Hut. The guide was really impressed by all the snow and reckoned it was one of the best snow falls he'd seen up there.

There were certain bits on the walk where we had to slide down steep slopes - I was glad I had borrowed a pair of waterproof trousers as although I looked like MC Hammer as they were 3 sizes too big they were great to slide in. As we slid down the slope we had to use our ice axes to slow our fall - great fun. When walking on the flat you had to stick your feet in the footprints and use your axe to keep your balance. Because the snow was fresh and there wasn't much ice we didn't use the crampons.


As we descended to the meeting point, down past the cloud line there were some stunning views of Lakes Taupo and Rotorua. We arrived at the pick-up point at the other side of the crossing at around 5pm and were met with a beer before the drive back to the hostel.

My last day in Taupo was free to look around and catch up on some Internet and Laundry. I thought I would take advantage of an offer advertised in one Internet place to do your washing whilst surfing the net. However this was not such a good idea as the guy running the place looked like (and sounded like) Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. I'm sure Comic Book Guy had not been near a washing machine before in his life. I reminded him to move the clothes to the dryer then he disapeared for the afternoon leaving a young kid in charge. Well the dryer turned out not to work so I had to carry the wet clothes back to my hostel and pay again to use their dryer!!