Day 31 I got to town and took a mostly chill day, looked at the logistics of the next coming days. I didn’t realize that I was still 2-3 days away from the Tongariro crossing start point, I thought I was closer. I wanted to hike the “around the mountain” hike which is 4-6 days, alternately there is the Tongariro Northern Circuit, which is 2-3 days, and then there is the Tongariro crossing day hike, which is part of the TA.
The confusing part is that many people canoe from Taumarunui 5 days down the river past all the Tongariro options, so I’m not sure if people do either one or the other, or hike down then shuttle back up and do five days on the river.
I thought I wouldn’t be able to do the around the mountain because one of the bridges is out, but after talking to someone from the DOC (department of conservation) it looks like it should be fine, they just put that on their site as a disclaimer.
I’m leaving a lot out, the details are a confusing mess, but after going to the info center, I have a much better idea what I want to do.
So after a day of planning I set out on the late side, 26 km to Owhango. At first it was kind of a crappy road walk, but the pavement turned to gravel and it went through some really nice farmland. I got to see the famous dancing Ostrich (maybe it’s a mating dance? I took video but I can’t upload it because of WordPress).
It was hot and most of it was in the sun. By the time I got to Owhango I was dehydrated (no good water on the way) and overheated. So I roll into Owhango Adventures (which is where I was planning on staying and renting a bike for the next section from) and they are closed for renovations… well shit. They gave me some water anyway and one of the guys who happened to be there offered me a ride up to the next campsite along the way.
It turns out the campsite along the way isn’t the Tongariro Holiday Park that I was thinking of, or even somewhere in between, rather a place between National Park and Whakapapa (west instead of north), but who am I to correct this guy who so generously gave me a ride?
I grabbed a no frills room and was able to wrangle a prosciutto salad and glass of wine (kitchen was only open for a large party)… #firstworldproblems
Now I have a view of sunset and Mt Doom!
