Tongariro Crossing

Activity Date: 26 April 2025
Updated: 13 April 2026
People: Finn, Jen, Hayleigh M, Tim H

After we finished we headed to Ohakune—a ski town near Mount Ruapehu, where we had an Airbnb booked. We did a huge pile of laundry, lit the fire and got into the hot tub, knowing that we had a shuttle booked to do the Tongariro Crossing the next day!

We rolled out of bed early so that we could drive about 1 hour to the Tongariro Crossing Carpark where we were due to get picked up by the shuttle. A bus arrived and a very cheerful driver took us around to the start of the crossing. We shuffled out of the bus and joined a crowd of people waiting to use the loos before hitting the trail.

For the first half of the crossing we were in a fairly consistent line of people, occasionally overtaking others, and occasionally being overtaken. In classic Great Walk style, the trail was incredibly well-formed and all you had to do was turn up with enough fitness to put one foot in front of the other!

The day started nicely with some blue sky peaking through gaps in the clouds, but as we ascended to South Crater, the clouds began to close in. By the time we reached the crater proper, the visibility had dropped dramatically, the wind had picked up, and we were getting damp! The jackets went on and we hiked on. Thankfully, I only spotted a few pairs of jeans that day. I imagine there are far more ill-prepared people during the on-season. At least when it’s starting to get cold, people get the message. Mostly.

We were still in the cloud as we descended to the Emerald Lakes, so we didn’t get to see the classic views of the lakes all laid out before you. I had great fun scree-ing down this section, though. Love a good scree, me. As we continued to descend, the weather eased off. The wind died off and we dried off as we got out of the cloud. By the time we got down to the bushline, we were flying. It was almost tempting to jog it!

At the northern exit of the crossing, there is a carpark in the bush, and it looks like some companies must come and pick you up there (nice for them), but we had to walk down to our car out on the main road. Still, it was only an extra 1km of downhill, so it’s not like it was much to ask.

Overall, we had a great day out, and even though we didn’t get to see some of the classic views due to the weather, we had a nice time chit-chatting and working our muscles.