Day 27: Mount Taranaki
We spent the night in a beachside campground in New Plymouth, and woke up to a bright & sunny morning! Perfect weather for a day-trip to explore Mount Taranaki.
Neighborhood chicken roosting in the campsite next to us
We decided to save our strength for the Tongariro Crossing, and only attempted the first half of the summit hike, making our way up to the Translator Tower. While we had many sunny lookout, clouds kept sweeping the mountain peak, We ran into several other hikers coming back down the mountain saying they all had to turn back from the peak, due to icy conditions at the top.
Visit to the DOC to plan our Taranaki hike for the day
Super-crowded parking lot at Taranaki – we didn’t realize until later that Monday was ANZAC Day – the Australian/Kiwi version of Memorial Day. Igor’s superior parking skills came in handy.
Hiking up the mountain!
On a clear day you can see Mount Ruapehu & Tongariro from Taranaki – Lindsay could barely see Ruapehu in the distance
Igor taking a breather at the Translator Tower
Clouds rolling in – time to head back down!
That evening, we started heading back to Tongariro, via the Forgotten World Highway – a 150km route through the mountains. We were planning to speed through and arrive at Tongariro before nightfall, but when we called the shuttle service to book the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we were told that once again, they were not running due to negative degree weather at the peak – luck just wasn’t with us! Since we no longer had to rush, we pulled over at the next campground…which had a little pony.
Goodnight, little pony!