Sunday 2 February 2025
Tongariro Northern Circuit 2025
Last weekend I took a long weekend, Friday to Monday, to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit again. This time we had great weather and our group of 12 had a great time!
The itinerary was pretty straightforward: drive down to Whakapapa on Friday morning, walk to Mangatepopo/Oturere/Waihohonu huts for the three nights, and back to Whakapapa for the drive back to Auckland on Monday. Everything went according to plan: the weather cooperated, no-one got injured, and we didn’t forget anything. It’s a pretty easy hike over four days — 3/6/3/5 hours per day — but very rewarding.
Food went pretty well. I prefer non-dehydrated food so we had curried chicken penne on the first night, canned tuna with mayonnaise, sun-dried tomatoes and cabbage wraps on the second night, and canned tuna with pesto, pasta, stir-fried cabbage, and rehydrated carrots on the third night.
I’ve done lots of walks in this area but somehow never tried the swimming holes before. This time we did! There’s a good one above the waterfall near Oturere Hut, and another good one in the Waihohonu stream at the campsite. The Otuere one has expansive views down the valley, and the Waihohonu one is enclosed in mossy bush, so different but both appealing. The water was cool but not freezing.
Waihohonu Hut is an excellent star-gazing location and we had great views on Sunday night.
On this trip we played a lot of Sanguosha (三國殺) which we acquired recently — especially on Sunday when we spent most of the afternoon at the hut. It’s lots of fun but we need to develop a better helper app to help with translating the Chinese.
I’ve visited Lower Tama Lake many times but often the wind and cold makes it unpleasant to climb the ridge to Upper Tama Lake. Monday was an exception and almost all the group got up there. The views of the slopes of Tongariro and across the saddle to Ruapehu are quite extraordinary.
I’m really looking forward to planning another hike in this area during the winter!
