Tongariro Crossing

Alas, the weather forecast was drizzle all week, except for the first day we arrived in the park... which was sunshine! So we participated in New Zealand's busiest day walk, with about 1,000 people starting between 7 and 9am every morning... except we started at 11am, when everyone else had already left, and we walked to the Blue Lakes and back... not quite the full crossing, but saw the best parts, and there was almost no one else – gorgeous and well worth it... though didn't really recognise Mount Doom... More pics here!