After my departure from Taupo, I made my way south again and stopped in Turangi.
I was interested in hiking in the Tongariro National Park, but during my research about some tracks, I found another very interesting trail.
It went up Mount Urchin and you were supposed to have an amazing view onto the Tongariro National Park.
So I stayed at a DOC campground, which was free and pretty cold, and after a short night, I drove to the start of the track.
The trail started out in a thick forest and I quickly gained altitude as it was a rather steep walk.
After one hour I got to the edge of the forest and had a quick snack, as the first part was rather exhausting.
I was prepared for a rather long walk, so I was surprised to arrive at the top of Mt. Urchin shortly thereafter. And the view from up there was simply amazing.
I could see Mt. Ngauruhoe, which I hiked up exactly one week earlier, as well as Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ruapehu.
The view in the other direction was breathtaking as well. Ridgeline after ridgeline and no other person in sight.
I was only walking 1,5 hours at that time, so I decided to explore a little bit further.
And it was definitely worth it, as I could look down into a valley with a river flowing through.
I got back to my car after only 4,5 hours and decided to drive to Turangi to take a swim in the aquatics center.
While I was prepared to hike in the Tongariro National Park the next day, the weather didn’t agree with my plans.
When I woke up, I was greeted with low hanging clouds and a light drizzle, which quickly developed into rather heavy rain.
I had already thought about my subsequent route, so I wasn’t really bothered by the rain, but it was annoying nonetheless.
I wanted to drive on the Forgotten World Highway, a 150km stretch of road through a remote wilderness without many villages.
There was no gas station on it at all.
I divided the road trip into two parts as I had found a nice little campground in the middle of nowhere.
The road was rather small and I only saw around 20 cars in those two days.
In parts, I even drove on a gravel road, which wasn’t in the best shape, especially after the rain on the second day.
So right now, I am on the west coast near Mount Taranaki, and if the weather permits I am going to do some hiking around this perfectly cone-shaped volcano.
Blog post included, of course.
Until then,
Cheers!
Max Abbe 