Day 2 in Raglan -The stray way

Raglan is a small town in the east coast of North Island. About 10 -12 km away is the Karioi lodge and outdoor centre neatly tucked away in the forest where surf enthusiasts and school children flock in its peak season to catch the best waves.
A night sleep here on our stray trip overnight sleep was such a wonderful experience. It is a perfect place for a weekend or holiday getaway to chill out.

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Stray Team
It is nothing like the 7 days Kokoda Trek I did in 2009 .With a steep climb up to South Crater where the vegetation is as low as your knees and apparent deposits of aged lava flow that have solidated into rocks you take easy step climbs between Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. You take a moment and think how amazingly the mother earth has its way of exploiting the surrounding vegetation. Climbing at 1900 altitude you reach the red crater where volcanic activity is apparent; sulpur smell and steam rising reminds you of the melting rocks beneath the earths surface and how violent it can turn out to be.

It was the The Tongariro Alpine Crossing trek that I did not have any excuse to miss out today.

With a group of 12 stray travellers we took the challenge to trek the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing. At 19.4 km trek extending over steep volcanic terrain that can take up to 7-8 hours hike depending on your walking pace and side trek walks.
Interestly I learnt that it is New Zealand's National heritage and is on the world heritage list. No wonder you get so many tourists who speak highly of this trek.

Travelling the Stray Way

I have been travelling on a bus service called Stray in the last 5 days. Arrived in Tongariro National Park today. Will be spending 3 days here before i head down to Wellington.

Maori Culture Experience in Maketu

Stray group in the morning of Friday morning

The Stray Group after the Cultural performance

Maori Culture/Traditional Experience Sleepover in Maketu