Slackers

20 April

National Park Village to Whakapapa Village

KM 1146.5

Distance: 21.1km

Elevation: ascent: 569m; descent 252m

Steps: 31,000

Time: 8:15am - 1:50pm

Back on the trail! 

After the delays, and rest days, both intentional and unintentional, we were glad to be back in our hiking shoes and on the trail. Ok, so maybe our feet were not 100% glad with this, but the rest of us was!

Especially our legs and backs, since they were not carrying the full load they are used to. We are able to "slack-pack" this section thanks to Brian and Bessie who are ferrying us to and from start- and end-points for this three days we are staying together in National Park.

Slack-packing refers to carrying a much smaller or lighter pack because you don't have to carry all the things you normally do; sleeping bags, tent, sleeping mats, extra clothes, etc. Additionally, we only have to carry food for one day at a time which means that our packs are light as can be!

We re-joined the trail as it entered National Park Village, and headed up toward Whakapapa Village. This took us alongside the main road for a few kilometers, including through another stop-go controlled section (it was automated with lights, so we couldn't get any special consideration from the traffic controller this time), before turning off the road and onto some trails. Throughout this section the views of the mountains - both Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom for the Lord of the Rings fans, pictured above) and  Ruapehu were looking majestic today.

The track was across and through a mixture of tussock land, podocarp forest and beech forest, all of which enchanted us in different ways.

We even ran across some very old signage - New Zealand switched to the metric system in 1967!

We got to see some little streams and waterfalls; we had to get our feet wet for the first river crossing of today, but all the rest were either easy to cross and stay dry, or had bridges over them. 

And then once we got up to the higher tussock lands, we got to walk on boardwalk to keep us up out of the swamp and also protect the sensitive plants in this area. There were even some interpretive signs telling us all of the stressors these plants live with - altitude, extreme temperatures, highly ferric and acidic soils to name a few. So we were happy to leave them be and not add "getting trampled on" to their woes.

We keep finding new and interesting types of funghi including this colony.

We completed the walk at the Chateau where we had drinks and chips at the cafe before returning to our accommodation. Making the most of fancy living before we return to normal tramping food.

 

Tomorrow Brian and Bessie are dropping us back at the Chateau Tongariro to start the Tongariro Crossing, one of the Great Walks in New Zealand and one of only two that Te Araroa uses. The other isn't really a walk at all, it's the Whanganui River section.

A few of you may have noticed that the Ruapehu volcano is a little bit more active lately. Rest assured that we are keeping an eye on the advice from volcanologists, who say at this time there is no reason not to do the Tongariro Crossing. For more information, here's a good article I read today: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/128406449/why-mt-ruapehu-is-restless-four-weeks-of-strong-volcanic-tremor-and-a-warm-crater-lake