Hiking in Tongariro National Park

"Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær." 

This is a popular Norwegian expression that people will often use to justify spending time outside in crummy weather. It translates to "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing". Norwegians love to spend time outdoors, but the weather in Norway isn't always that great. Norway has all four seasons, and the weather can be very unpredictable at times. No matter what, come rain or shine (or snow storm), you will see Norwegians outside walking. That's what we do, we walk. Everywhere - to work, to school, to the store, to parties. If you're going to sit and wait for nice weather before you go out, you might be waiting a long time. So just bundle up, put on another layer of wool, and something made of Gore-Tex; there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing! 

Today was one of those days when we had both bad clothing AND bad weather. Double whammy! We woke up bright and early (6am), and were ready to hike the Tongariro Crossing after having breakfast. This is one of the most famous hikes in New Zealand, and has even been declared one of the country's best hikes by National Geographic. It was raining and pretty foggy out, so we were a little nervous about our hike. 

The people at the hostel first confirmed our fears about not having enough clothing; it was going to be around 0Celsius/32Fahrenheit at the top. Even though we had rented hiking boots and pants, we were surely not dressed for these chilly temperatures. Next, our fears of the weather being too bad were also confirmed; the mountain was actually "shut down" (by someone with mountain-shutting-down authority), and they wouldn't let us even attempt doing the hike. In addition to the rain, the fog would inhibit us from seeing anything, so essentially we would just be walking for 19km/12miles freezing our butts off. I guess we were better off not doing this hike today. 

Another Norwegian expression is "Ut på tur, aldri sur". This pretty much just means "Don't be cranky when you're out and about" (sounds much more eloquent in Norwegian, I promise). So as we weren't able to do the Tongariro Crossing, we did another hike instead. We were a little disappointed about not being able to do the Tongariro Crossing, but hey, what can you do? We made the best out of the situation. We ended up hiking for a good 6 hours at different spots near Whakapapa Village. 

We were dropped off at the Silica Rapids and headed to Whakapapa Village (approx 7km/4.3miles). We stopped at the local café, Ferguson's, to get some coffee before continuing our hiking. Coffee always makes hiking in the rain better! That's another Norwegian saying (juuust kidding). 

Next we went from Whakapapa Village to the Taranaki Falls. There were so many different kinds of plants everywhere. It was amazing how vibrant the colors were. Bright greens, oranges, browns, and yellows, So gorgeous! 

The scenery reminded me a lot of hiking in Norway (except in Norway there aren't random palm trees in the forest). Or maybe it was just the atmosphere that made me think of Norway? It made me miss a friend of mine from UiT, Cathrine, We always go hiking up in Tromsø together. I can't wait for more hikes with her in the fall! 

The Taramaki Falls Track is a loop walk that accessing the beautiful 20meter/66foot waterfall. The loop is approx 6km/3.7miles in distance. The hike itself was fairly easy; the path was clearly marked and there were board walks for the uneven parts. 

There were several other waterfalls in addition to the big Taramaki Falls. So many beautiful things to take in! 

We made it! Behind us is the stunning Taramaki Falls. 

The plan was to go up to the Tamo Lake from the Taramaki Falls. This is an extension of the loop, and was an additional 9km/5.6miles round trip. After walking for about 15 minutes (after the waterfall), we were having some trouble. It was great that we could rent shoes from the hostel, but they didn't all fit quite properly. As a result of ill-fitting footwear, Isabelle and Sydney ended up getting blisters and were in lots of pain from walking. Not what you want to have while hiking! They tried swapping to their colorful Asics, but they realized they were going to have to make their way back to Whakapapa Village (1 hour 15 minutes away). Their blisters were just too painful, and it wasn't worth trying to hike up to Tama Lake (which would add another 1 hour and 45 minutes to the trip back to Whakapapa Village). 

My shoes were a little uncomfortable, but I wasn't in nearly as much pain as the two other girls, so I decided to head up to Tama Lake by myself. It was a nice walk, albeit a little lonely at first. I put in my headphones, and turned on some music to cope with the loss of my two hiking companions. Aside from a few streams that had to be crossed, it was a nice walk up to the Tama Lake.

There were signs posted with destinations and how long it would take to get there. These were pretty inaccurate because it really depends on how quickly you walk (obviously). It would have been more helpful to have the distance on the signs, if you ask me...

Yay! I made it to the Lower Tama Lake. You could go even higher (approx 1km further), but the people I spoke to on the way said it wasn't worth it. It was already starting to fog up. 

Aaaand immediately after I took the I-made-it-to-Tama-Lake selfie, it started POURING and my iPhone died. I think this was the universe telling me it was time to stop taking pictures of myself and stop listening to music. Instead I should enjoy the sound of the rain hitting my rain jacket and my feet hitting the ground. And I did! I'm glad I made it up there. 

All in all, it turned out to be a splendid day. We got to hike for a few hours and didn't get too cold in the process (we were, however, soaked once we got back to Whakapapa Village). The nice man from the hostel came and picked us up at 3pm. We were pretty wiped, but in good spirits. We spent the car ride home critiquing each others drawings of kitties on the windows. Sydney was pretty happy with the last kitty she drew! 

The rest of the day was very low key. We showered and took a well-deserved nap before going out to dinner. We were feeling a little chilly, so we decided to try one of the specialties at the bar: hot chocolate with Bailey's. Those definitely did the trick!

We also got around to planning some more activities. Tomorrow morning we will be going to Turangi to do something none of us have done before... White water rafting! Apparently it is a "must" while in NZ, so we couldn't say no (even though all three of us are pretty nervous). 

That's it for today. My bunk bed is calling my name...

Love, 

Suzy