25 Dec 2010 – Taurewa

Christmas Day!  It seems strange to wake up in the van and wishing each other a Merry Christmas.  But we had no tree, no snow and few presents.   No matter today is Christmas and it is not raining, so we did get the best present possible.  For gifts we agreed to do only stocking stuffing things and share the costs of the new camera as our Christmas present to each other. 

We headed back up to Whakapapa Village so we could once again try to get to the Kama Lakes.  We noticed that today with the visibility so good we could actually see the Chateau Tongariro which is a beautiful building.  However we did note that the clouds were high, but still around and threatened to drop down and start to rain again.

We headed off on the trail as quickly as we could since the trail is 2 ½ hours to the Lower Kama Lake and we wanted to get there before any potential rain.  The trail itself is very well laid out and easy to fall, but one section through a valley of one alpine area where the rain has basically washed out the main trail.  Unfortunately this means that there is some braiding happening.

We reached the falls which is listed as one hour from the trailhead in 30 minutes.  Then we headed on to Lower Tama Lake and arrived there to find a beautiful emerald green lake nestled below us in a crater.  At this time the sun has come out and we are in sunshine – but the wind is blowing hard.  We are enjoying the sunshine but it is still very chilly since the sun is warm but the wind is very chilly. 

We continued on up to Upper Tama Lake which was only about 30 minutes further up the trail, but involved climbing up a steep bank to reach the crater ridge overlooking a crater lake below that is looking very cold at the moment.  We have lost the sun and the clouds have moved back in along with a very strong wind.  As we stood at the top and enjoyed the views of Mount Ruapehu with Lower Tama Lake below it we watched as the clouds being pushed aside with the wind and the blue skies returned.  When we turned around we look down into Upper Tama Lake with a crescent shape and Mount Ngauruhoe towering behind. 

However, the top of this mountain is shrouded in a cloud that does not seem willing to move on so we could see the top of the volcano.

As I study the lake I notice that the land intruding into the lake is shaped like a turtle.

We returned down the steep slope to Lower Tama Lake and headed back to the car park.  On the way we stopped a couple of times to take additional pictures of some of the waterfalls.   Wes wanted to take some pictures of alpine flowers but it was hard with the wind blowing but we did our best.

This hike is suppose to be 6 ½ hours but we are back in the car by 5 hours so I guess the timing is wrong or we walked very quickly… ok we did.  So since we are down so early we decide to drive up to the ski hill and check it out.  The ski hill looks very interesting since it seems to be sitting on a rock pile, nothing grows on the lava rock.  If I was to try to picture what a ski hill might look like on the moon - this would be it.

As Wes explored I used the time to set up the computer and discovered that the cell service works here so I can deal with the email and facebook.  Then as Wes takes his turn on the computer I head off to do some exploring and picture taking of “Mount Doom”.

We are really starting to enjoy the sunshine as the clouds are breaking up and disappearing leaving  us with sunshine and warmth.  Dinner today is going to be interesting since the campground seems to have filled up.