Tongariro Northern Circuit - 48km (29 miles) - four days (we took three) - Great Walk 3/9

Day 1: The start of our second Great Walk in the space of a week, this one would take us through the North Island's central volcanic plateau: a active volcanic area of towering craters, steaming fumaroles and the ever present smell of sulphur.

High spirits as we set of in the blistering sunshine with Mt Ruapehu, North Islands biggest mountain, in the background. 

A fairly easy 4.5 hour walk to our first hut, Mangatepopo, and some time to get our energy up for the next day which we knew would be much tougher - crossing the Tongariro alpine landscape.

The sunset cast a beautiful orangey light on Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt.Doom) and as we looked out we could see Mt Taranaki silhouetted in the distance. 

Day 2: Up at 5.30am so we could make the most of the clear weather before the forecast thunderstorms put a dampener on our spirits, the cool mountain air quickly blew away the feeling of sleep deprivation. 

As we gained elevation, taking a side trip to the summit of Tongariro, we had fantastic views over the blue crater lake and the black lava flows of previous eruptions.

The four of us were the first to reach the summit and enjoyed a brief rest from our very heavy packs: laden with four days of supplies, sleeping bags and warm/wet weather gear.

We next made our way to Red Crater, it's an active vent of the volcano - the ground simmered and steamed!

Descending from Red Crater, down a steep scree slope, we were greeted with spectacular views of the emerald lakes and the smell of eggs from the venting fumaroles.

Looking out we could see our path winding through a barren landscape: "A maze of razor sharp rocks" - known by us LOTR fans as Emyn Muil.

The weather started to turn just before lunch as we were bombarded by large hailstones...

...thankfully it didn't last and we could enjoy a fantastic spot for our break.

Unfortunately despite how welcoming the lake looks for dipping weary feet it was highly acidic so we kept the boots on!

Perhaps the best views of the day were looking back at Red Crater and Mt Ngauruhoe, the lonely tramper in the foreground gives a good indication of scale.

We had planed to stay in a hut two hours from here so this was our turning point...

... plenty of energy to burn - Dave went for a few star jumps: these he might regret!

As we heading down the mountain the thunderstorms kicked in for real (as a result the camera went in the bag) - horizontal rain, sleet and hail. Lightning flashed and the thunder rattled through our whole bodies! It sure was making us feel small in this huge landscape.

After 8.5 hours of walking we arrived to find the hut pretty full, the only option if we all wanted to stay as a group was to walk another 3 hours to the next hut!!! These four are pretty tough intrepid walkers now though so on we went:- 11.5 hours covering 25km of extremely rugged terrain and we finally made our camp. What a beast of a day!!!

Day 3: Well we had covered all the planned day three trekking on day two so we decided to make our way out of the park a day early and head for Wellington for some R&R, just a 5 hour hike stood in our way.... With such tired muscles and sore feet, five hours has never felt so long! But what a way to compleat the mighty Tongariro Northern Circuit.