Who’s bright idea was it to do the Tongariro Crossing at sunrise anyway.
It’s 2:30 am, multiple alarms are going off on all of our phones. I check the weather before committing to being full awake.
It’s the end of April, -2 degree low, high of 9 with clear skies, a bit of wind up the top easing over the day. Perfect.
Four people, on bunks in a cheap hostel, it’s bloody freezing but we were only sleeping for 4hours anyway that night.
Somehow, maybe it was the early start and lack of sleep but we decided to not do breakfast or coffee in lieu of a more epic breakfast location.
My wife Jasmine and I were joined by Fredrik & Susanne, a couple of Sweedes who we adopted and wanted to show them what New Zealand had to offer. They are both photographers so it was gonna be a great walk.
Headtorch only on the walk through Mangatepopo Valley and up the Devil’s staircase.
Mt Ngauruhoe, Tongariro Crossing. Tongariro National Park, New Zealand.
This 25 second exposure of Mt Ngauruhoe is one of many that Fredrik & I took at 4am in the morning.
Jasmine and Susanne were not taking photos of the stars and left us boys to freeze while our cameras were pointed to the stars.
Let’s just say Fredrik and I had to sprint the next section of the climb to catch the sunrise in time.
Fredrik capturing the girls on top of the summit.
Sunrise looking over the Emerald Lake, Tongariro Crossing was totally worth it.
7am, Alone at Red Crater and breakfast time. As serious foodies we ate in style with coffee, hot porridge and whiskey for our effort.
Fredrik & Susanne
Kenrick & Jasmine
There was something truly profound about being alone, eating breakfast on an active volcano. The whole experience was sureal, with no one else around we felt like we were alone on the moon. About 8am we met our first other travellers and many more during the day.
And for the way down, I did a little timelapse whilst walking. Music: A1 by Darkside. https://soundcloud.com/otherpeoplerecords/darkside-a1
