As promised a nice report for the day. I did the Tongariro Crossing, a nearly 20km hike through the mountains and probably one of the most popular one-day hikes in New Zealand.
After the shuttle got me to the start, the ascent to the first of many great views started, the devil staircase to the South Crater:
After a short flat through the crater, the second ascent was there, the one to the Red Crater. This all with a great view on Mount Ngauruhoe; aka Mount Doom in the "The Lord of the Rings" movies:
On the top again some awesome views on the Red Crater and Mount Tongariro:
Then followed a steep descent where you could see how many people were on the track today (a lot!):
Finally the last climb went to the Blue Lake (also a crater) and the view to the Northern Face and Lake Taupo:
After this the long and slight descent to Ketetahi started, first it meandered through the open volcanic surface, then the first small bushes appeared and eventually the track headed into a forest for the last three kilometers.
All in all a great day (also thanks to the weather) with a good number of steps. The only downside was the fact that the track was really busy (especially since it is the holiday season now). Despite that, I'd strongly recommend everyone to do the hike when you're visiting New Zealand!
