3 hours after walking into the rafting company at Waitomo we were on our way to Tongariro National Park and the much awaited Tongariro Crossing.
The Crossing is one of the most popular day hikes in New Zealand and with good reason, it is stunning. We weren’t able to do it in 2001 (again because of the weather) and was one of the main reasons we were returning to the North Island.
It was a bit of a detour to go from Waitomo to Tongariro but having been tracking the weather forecast, tomorrow was shaping up to be the clearest day of our entire trip so we were on a mission to hit it at its finest.
There were pretty slim pickings for accommodation in the park and we ended up at Discovery Lodge primarily because they offered the earliest shuttle to the trailhead. The lawn for camping was a free-for-all but it’s no longer high season so there was plenty of space. The rest of the facilities were pretty ropey; a crappy old kitchen with minimal appliances, the lounge area comprised a bunch of tables and sofas in the center of an old drained indoor swimming pool and the showers were past their best to say the least. Having said all that, we didn’t need much, we ate out for dinner and in the morning we were up and out at 5:30 am to do the hike.
Slim pickings for dinner too but one place called The Station got great reviews so we headed over there. The Station was an apt name, it was indeed housed in the old railway station. The food was fabulous but we had to wait FOREVER. Some staff hadn’t shown up for work and so it was just the chef and the server and they were running around like idiots and apparently had been all day. Poor things looked fit to drop so we forgave them the wait time, offered them moral support and left them a hefty tip and the suggestion that they close the doors early and make a dent in the wine cellar!