- Round The World Trip Destination Wish #3: Great Walks in New Zealand
- Milford Track Booked For April 2015
- New Zealand, On The Road Again After a 2 Month Break
- 8 New Zealand Great Walks in 8 Weeks
- Preparing for The Great Walks and Waiting Out Cyclone Pam
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 1: Onepoto to Panekire Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 2: Panekire Hut to Waiopaoa Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 3: Waiopaoa Hut to Marauiti Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 4: Marauiti Hut to Hopuruahine Landing
- Wairoa and Taupo, In Between Great Walks
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 1: Mangatepopo Hut to Oturere Hut
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 2: Oturere Hut to Waihohonu Hut
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 3: Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa Village
- Wellington, Christchurch, Mount Cook, and Queenstown, In Between Great Walks
- Routeburn Track Day 1: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls Hut
- Routeburn Track Day 2: Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut
- Routeburn Track Day 3: Lake Mackenzie Hut to The Divide
- Milford Track Day 1: Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut
- Milford Track Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut
- Milford Track Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut
- Milford Track Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point
- Te Anau, In Between Great Walks
- Rakiura Track Day 1: Oban to Port William Hut
- Rakiura Track Day 2: Port William Hut to North Arm Hut
- Rakiura Track Day 3: North Arm Hut to Oban
- Stewart Island, In Between Great Walks
- Kepler Track Day 1: Te Anau to Luxmore Hut
- Kepler Track Day 2: Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut
- Kepler Track Day 3: Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut
- Kepler Track Day 4: Moturau Hut to Te Anau
- A Return to Milford Sound
- Coastal Pacific Train, Hitchking, And Nelson, In Between Great Walks
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 1: Marahau to Anchorage
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 2: Anchorage to Bark Bay
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 3: Bark Bay to Awaroa
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 4: Awaroa to Whariwharangi
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 5: Whariwharangi to Totaranui via Gibbs Hill Track
- Heaphy Track Day 1: Brown Hut to Perry Saddle Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 2: Perry Saddle Hut to James Mackay Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 3: James Mackay Hut to Heaphy Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 4: Heaphy Hut to Kohaihai
- Riding The Tranzalpine Train in New Zealand
- In Review: 69 Days of Backpacking in New Zealand
Previous entry: Day 2 – Oturere Hut to Whakapapa Village
Journal entry for March 25, 2015
Distance Hiked: 14.3 km
With over 14 km to hike, and a 2:45pm shuttle pickup from the end of the trail, I made sure I got up early.
The trail is flat for most of the day, with an occasional small hill here and there. I soon caught up with Memo and hiked with him for a while until I got to the junction for the trail to the Tama Lakes. He continued on, I did the 20-minute detour to the Lower Tama Lake.
My knee was pretty swollen which limited my range of motion. I walked with a slight limp and this slowed me down. The closer I got to Whakapapa Village, the better the trail condition became. There were stairs, gravel, and boardwalk everywhere. I run into a bunch of day trippers coming from Whakapapa.
With about 40 minutes to go, I arrived at a fork. Both trails end at Whapakaka Village and both take around 40 minutes, but the northern trail takes you to small Taranaki Falls.
From here on I hiked with Oskar from Sweden, who I had met the night before at the hut. I arrived at Whakapapa Village at 12:30pm, 4 hours after I started. Once there I run into a lot of the people I’d met during the previous three days. At the visitor center (which has very nice informative displays) I saw the Israeli couple again (I feel so bad for not remembering names) and they kindly offered to give me a ride to Taupo, since they were going there too. I accepted and saved the 60 NZD for the shuttle.
I was lucky to get mostly good weather in the three days I was out there. It rained only once on the second day after I had already arrived at the hut. I thought the first day’s scenery (Tongariro Alpine Crossing) was spectacular. The other two days were good but nothing close to that.
These are my ratings for this Great Walk:
Scenery: 8 – The crossing section is spectacular and unique.
Difficulty: 4 – Going up the crossing was easy, coming down was a little slippery due to loose soil.
Trail Condition: 9 – The stairs and boardwalk on steep parts were very welcome.
For more info on this walk, check out the NZ Department of Conservation’s brochure and video for this walk.
Next entry: Wellington, Christchurch, Mount Cook, and Queenstown, In Between Great Walks
Comments (2)
Hey, thank you for writing your experiences! It’s made me decide to add this walk to my to-do list when me and my partner are going to NZ in 3 months 🙂 We were thinking of starting our walk at Waihohonu Hut as well, because our stay on the north island isn’t very long. I was wondering if you know, if there is a shuttlebus going from Tongariro Village to Waihohonu?
Grts
Hi Evy. I took a shuttle from Taupo, so I don’t know if there are shuttle buses from Tongariro Village to Waihohonu. You can also hitchhike, which is pretty common and safe in NZ. Enjoy your trip!