Tongariro Ramble — Athena Rhodes

Grey Beginnings

It was a cloudy rainy day when I arrived at the Tongariro National Park. The kind of day where you want to curl up with a good book and a hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows bobbing on the surface like lil icebergs. Perhaps a furry dog or grumpy cat to warm your lap while a fire crackled nearby. Not, huddled in a van aka my home on wheels with frozen finger tips, a nose that at this point could be mistaken for an ice cube and rain soaked skin.

You wouldn’t know it from appearances, but at that point I was surrounded by volcanoes and some of the most picturesque views of New Zealand. The heavy cloud though had hidden this from my view, instead a drab grey curtain had been dropped hiding all the landscape theatrics. The Tongariro National Park is our oldest national park in New Zealand and a UNSCEO site. It is a jewel in the North Island and one many flock to to explore.

Resigning to the fact that goggling at vast volcanoes and feeling the tussocks between my finger tips was out of the question for this morning, I drove to Mangahuia Camp, a camp on the outskirts of the National Park run by Department of Conservation. When I arrived there was only one other camper, a lone campervan, only visible through illuminated windows through the pouring rain. It looked cozy in there, unlike my van which simply looked like a soggy mess.

And this is how I spent the next two days. In the pouring rain in my soggy mess of a van. The rain was constant and made everything seem wet and dour. My socks were perpetually wet, the van was moist as I breathed vapour into the cramped space and every time i had to trek to the outdoor toilet, I would return to the van soaked to the bone and looking like a bedraggled drowned rat. I was miserable in one of the most beautiful spots in New Zealand. I spent most of my time huddled under the blankets, cursing my small bladder and reading fantasy books. But I wanted to have my own fanatical adventure in the land of orcs and elves. This was the spot where many scenes from the infamous Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed. The film series that essentially placed little ole New Zealand on the map, well, that and Whitakers Chocolate.

On day three, I awoke not to the soft pitter patter of rain on my ceiling. That had been a constant melody to my life over the last few days. No. I woke to silence. Blissful silence. It had finally stopped raining. It was 5am, I was cold but finally I could feel my sour grey mood that had hooked itself into my mind the last few days, drift away. I felt excited.

Filling my thermos with coffee and donning many many layers of clothing, I drove to Bruce Road. Bruce Road is the scenic road up to the Whakapapa ski fields. I wasn’t there to ski, no, I was there to catch the most epic sunrise of all time.

Driving up the windy road, i could hear Tofu, my van, protesting. He was cold and not really made for tough hills. But, he is a tough little thing and we persisted. All the way up to the carpark on Bruce Road.

And what I saw, well, it made those last few days of persistent rain a distant hazy memory. A cloud inversion. The first I had ever seen. I always imagined you had to hike for hours and hours to be able to see one. But here I was, a short 10 minute drive and seeing one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. It truely felt like I was on top of the world. And poking out from the carpet of clouds were volcanoes. Mount Ngauruhoe, an active volcano that many know as the sinister, Mount Doom, and Mount Ruapehu snow capped and grand. I was within the embrace of giants.

I do not remember how long iI stayed there. Minutes, hours. But I remember slowly sipping my now lukewarm coffee and breathing in that blissful feeling of being amongst beauty and not having an anxious thought in my mind. How could I when I was surrounded by bliss.

If you are ever in the area, I can not recommend this enough. Pick a morning where the weather looks favourable, pack a hot drink and wrap up warm and head up Bruce Road. During my stay, I went up a lot and never regretted it. Every sunrise and sunset felt different and I filled two 16Gb SD cards with those memories.

But, make sure to check that the road is open before you up the windy road, because it can be closed due to ice and snow.

After that welcome, I jumped right into exploring the park.

Tama Lakes

I am not a hiker, like at all. I am a wanderer. I softly ramble through forests and look at mountains from viewpoints, which require a 10 minute walk. I am an explorer but one who doesn’t normally work up much of a sweat. Lately though, I have felt a call of the wild. The wild wild places which are harder to reach and require a little bit of sweating, smelliness, and maybe some cursing.

The Tama Lakes walk was something I have looked at a few times. But every time, I have decided not to do the walk. Mostly because it has invalid 5 hours of walking and I always talked myself out of it. Fear is a powerful coaxer of wills and it depleted my confidence levels every time.

But this visit was the time to conquer my fears and do that walk.

The Tama Lake was not easy. It made me have sweaty smelly armpits, sore legs and reach a new level of exhaustion where my bones felt like jelly and my heart felt like a rabbits feet running down a path, thump thump thump.

But, the views were very much worth the trek. Lakes in mountains. It kind of boggles the mind that such magical landscapes exist. These lakes were created thousands of years ago by explosion craters being filled in with water, and bam, alpine lakes surrounded by volcanoes.

I reached the lower Tama Walk and felt a sense of achievement. I had done it. I sat heavily on the conveniently located grass covered rock and opened up my lunch box and started munching on a peanut butter sandwich. A sandwich always tastes like nectar from the gods when exhausted and I throughly enjoyed that meal, even though the bread was tough as boots (stale) and the peanut butter was dirt cheap (on a budget).

I sat there for a while. Not wishing to start the trek back, but also simply enjoying the view. A lake in a mountain. How wonderful.

Eat Cafe

Being vegan and gluten free, away from big cities can sometimes prove to be tough. I remember going to one small town cafe, and asking for vegan options, and they stared blankly at me, and asked what is vegan. And I heart kind of crumbled into dust at that point, as I was ravenous and had a mean case of the hangrys.

So, I often don’t eat out when I am in rural areas.

But, when I went to Ohakune. I was pleasantly surprised.

There was a cafe that was focused on helping the planet both in offering vegetarian and vegan fare as well as serving food in compostable packaging. Eat Cafe. They had the best coffee, using Havana beans, and a whole menu filled with vegetarian food, all of which can be veganised.

I ordered a Mexican salad with crispy Sunfeed chicken. I don’t know if you have tried Sunfeed, but it is “chicken” made from pea protein, instead of poor defensive chickens and it tastes pretty damn fine.

I ended up going here three times during my week and a half stay. I was enamoured and like a siren’s call, found myself returning to that cafe, time after time.

Cold nights, frosty toes and frozen noses.

What I remembered most about my stay in the park is my cold nose. I often found my nose chilly, like an ice cube stuck to my face. Just call me Frosty. And my fingers burned with cold and my shivers racked my body at night. I am not exaggerating when I say, it was cold. Winter in Tongariro means frost tipped grass, puddles that have a mosaic layer of ice sitting on top, and snow. It is cold.

But even though many nights I went to bed in pain, with a chill that seemed to seep right into my bones, and woke to frozen extremities, I was happy. How could I not be? I was in a beautiful place living in a slightly beat up van. I was free.

Carparks that we call home

For a few nights while visiting the park, I slept in a carpark.

The first night felt odd. When the sun set and I was huddled in the van, I looked out the window and saw a carpark. The only reasons before vanlife that I had been in a carpark was to go somewhere, it was a place that I left the car while I went and did something. I had never experienced a carpark as a home for the night.

So I felt this strange feeling settle within me. It took a long time for me to fall asleep. The lights were too bright and the carpark too quiet. Coming from a place where the stars had been the only source of light and the sounds were those of the forest. I felt odd. I eventually fell asleep, with a slight frown marring my brows and a tension in my body.

Falcons

I had never seen a karekarea in the wild until Tongariro. I had seen them at a place called Wingspan, where you get to meet New Zealand birds of prey and see them fly and simply be impressive feathered lil fighter-jets. But, never in the wild.

I saw three while staying. Three. That is 300 percent more karekarea then pre-Tongariro.

Red Moon Chases

The day that the eclipse blood moon came to play. I was not too interested. Mainly because I has accidentally eaten gluten that morning, and I was a bloated mess. My stomach was hard and large and painful and I was in a sour mood because of this. While I wondered how gluten had snuck its way into my life like a sneaky unwelcome bandit, I completely forgot about the natural phenomena that was causing the world to collectively froth at the mouth.

Until that afternoon.

I remembered. So, I scoffed some food, as food will always come first in my personal hierarchy of life. And away we went. Tofu and I on an epic adventure. Cue - our own personal soundtrack - think Dukes of Hazard intro but with less denim shorty shorts and more unflattening thermal pants.

First stop was back to Bruce Road. And the sunset was soft and pink and melted in my mouth like cotton candy. But no moon. I am not an astro human nor a practical one, so I had no idea where the moon would rise. So off we went again in search of tonight’s superstar, or perhaps I should say super-moon.

I parked outside the Chateau, the hotel in New Zealand that most looks like the one from the Shining. I do not know if they have blood elevators or creepy twin girls, but the outside defiantly looks like a haunted movie.

And lo and behold, the moon slowly rose. Higher and higher and I was amazed at the size. And the glow. It seemed to glow just a little brighter that evening. and I had this mad grin on my face as if I had been struck with lunacy.

But the chase was not over. I wished to see the moon atop Mount Ngauruhoe, like a glowing star on a Christmas tree. So, Tofu and I dashed off. We drove and drove, watching the moon slowly align with Ngauruhoe in a very satisfying way. Turning into a dark and seemly deserted dead-end road, I ran into another who was chasing the moon like a loon. A older man who had been perched at this spot for hours and hours, doing a time lapse. He told me to not drive past his camera as if I wobbled it, well, he would kill me. No. He didn’t really say that, but I think if I did wobble that camera he may have split my blood all over this dirt covered dead end road. Because, he had planned this for months, and not a couple of minutes like my harebrained messy haired pj wearing self.

I returned to the carpark where I was sleeping for he night. 630pm. But I was tired of moon chasing and wanted to dream chase instead. I set my alarm for the time where the moon would bleed red, and at 11:11 I looked out of the van window and was suitably amazed.

Tallest Waterfall Chases

There is tall waterfall in the Tongariro Park.

The tallest waterfall in the park and me posing

The tallest in the park. The Waitonga Falls.

I wished to meet this beauty. Because waterfalls are always a great thing to marvel at and tall waterfalls, well, they are even better.

So, a waterfall chase was hatched.

The day that I set out was cold and overcast. The wind howled, hungry and eager. Ripping through my clothes and shredding any sense of warmth. It was before dawn, so darkness still reigned.

But, I still set out. It was a short walk.

At the halfway point, I noticed the rain started to hurt. It felt like pebbles being thrown at my exposed skin. And it took a little bit for my brain to connect the dots, it was snowing. A little flurry of snow that left delicate snow flakes on my clothes and a chill in my body. I laughed. Because I never got to see snow, so I still found it all quite magical.

The snow left as soon as it arrived really. A short visit. But a happy one.

After that excitement, I trekked on. Down and down and down, stairs and more stairs, until the Waitonga Waterfall was before me. A thundering mass of water tumbling off a sheer cliff. A sight to behold. A successful morning waterfall chasing really.

Creepy Ute Man

One evening, at the campground. A lone ute drove in just as the sun was setting. My creepy senses started tingling. There was noone else in the camp other than us and this ute man.

Who was ute man? Why was it parked up and just sitting in his ute? I had many questions. But, I did not want to ask him, as you know, I thought he was a creepy ute guy.

I kept an eye on the ute most of the night. One creepy thing that I noticed was he did not go to the outdoor toilet, at all. Did he have an iron bladder? Did he have a pee bottle in there? What is going on? I went to bed thinking of a stranger’s toilet habits. Which is completely normal, right?

The next morning, he left. I walked over to his spot and noticed toilet paper in the bush. So, he was that kind of guy. An ass. A creepy ass ute guy.

Last thoughts

I left the park on a beautiful sunny day. It was nice juxtaposition to the way I arrived. The park was giving me a fine farewell. I felt a pang in my heart. I was going to miss being within the embrace of mountains, breathing in that fresh National Park air, sleeping under such clear skies that i could count every individual star in the milky way if I had the time, and I properly would miss that damn carpark that I slept in more nights than I should mention. i was going to miss this place, but it was time to move on, hit the road, I was getting itchy feet again and I had a lot more wandering to do.