New Zealand: #19 Tongariro Crossing

The 12 mile trek across Mt Tongariro takes about 7 hours. It's a one-way walk and has been called New Zealand's best one day hike. The views are incredible.

Me, Marketa & Deborah. We weren't the first group to finish, but we were definitely the best-looking.

It is recommended that you bring 2 litres of water. Deborah packed 6L and a camelback. That bag must have been half her weight. Not to mention all the food we brought. Including a wheel of brie. I like the way she thinks. We were the best-looking and had the best snacks. Deborah ended up dumping 4L of water out at the top.

What not to wear:

Lots of uphill. Looking back at the aptly named Devil's Staircase:

Irresistible rock to climb

Everywhere you turned there was a spectacular view

We got really excited when we saw this, and the sights only got better:

Blue Lake

Definitely blue

Mt Ngauruhoe. Between the 3 of us we probably took 500 pictures of this mountain. Seriously.

360 degree views

First glimpse of the Red Crater

I felt like I was on another planet.

The Red Crater & Mt Ngauruhoe

The Emerald Lakes. Another 500 photos.

My favorite color

Hoodlums

Mt Ruapehu still holding onto some patches of snow in the background, Mt Ngauruhoe, Red Crater

I was looking forward to the downhill part of the walk after feeling the burn uphill. But the downhill ended up being more painful than the uphill. It took forever. Just when we thought we were almost to the bottom, a sign told us we had another two hours to go. Not easy on the knees.

Lake Rotoaira, with massive Lake Taupo behind it

We reached the only sheltered part of the crossing, the beech forest

By this point, even Deborah was tired

All three of us fell asleep on the bus ride back to Taupo. Once we got back into town, we got some burgers then went straight to Mulligan's (where else?).