SDBTT William Doolin Fund Goes International!

A Big Thank You To All Our Sponsors!

On Monday 16 April 2007, Bernard (William’s uncle), Kate (William’s cousin) and our friends, Lisa and Joanne Wallbank, completed the Tongariro Crossing in order to raise money for the SDBTT William Doolin Fund. William was diagnosed with a brain tumour in late 2005 and, after enduring a lengthy operation, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, he lost his brave fight last October, aged just ten years.

Noted for being the best one-day trek in New Zealand, the Tongariro Crossing is about an 18.5 km (11.5 miles) challenging alpine trek that crosses some of the most scenic and volcanic areas of the Tongariro National Park. Gifted by local Maori in 1887 to the government, it was the first national park to be established in New Zealand and is now also a World Heritage site.

We had arrived in Taupo, a town on the northern shores of New Zealand's largest lake (Lake Taupo) on a cold Friday 13 April evening only to find out that the trek was unsafe to do because of blizzards and poor weather conditions. The weather failed to improve so, fearing that we would be unable to do the planned trek, we set off on the Sunday morning from Taupo on a hike past the spectacular Huka Falls to the Aratiatia Rapids and back again, the equivalent distance of the Tongariro Crossing. We need not have worried! By the end of the weekend, the weather had improved enough for us to attempt the trek the next day. We were so excited. Then the reality hit us – we would be hiking 18.5 km again in the morning only this time up a mountain!

The day of the trek began very early for us. We were all up by 4:00 a.m. – the first 20 minutes to just get our legs moving from the aches from the day before! At 5:30 a.m. we stood outside our accommodation in the dark and mist waiting for the coach www.tongariroexpeditions.com to drive us to the Tongariro National Park. At about 7:15 a.m. we arrived at our drop-off point and the start of the crossing.

The first part of the crossing was a fairly gentle hike up the Mangatepopo Valley to the ‘Soda Springs’.

Then the challenge really began – a steep climb up over lava rocks to the saddle between the active volcanoes of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe. We soon learnt why this part of the trek is known as the ‘Devil’s Staircase’!

After crossing the large, flat South Crater, we climbed up to the Red Crater, the highest point of the track (1886 m/6188 ft). This section was a little scary as the track is steep and has big drops on either side. In fact, this section was very scary, particularly for Kate!

Mountains at higher altitudes can be quite treacherous because the weather can change and the temperature drop very rapidly. It was windy, had started to snow, and the Red Crater Ridge marked the POINT OF NO RETURN!

From the top of the Red Crater we descended down a narrow track of scoria to the Emerald Lakes (water-filled craters named after their beautiful green colour).

We were fortunate that the cloud lifted and we had lovely views of the stunning lakes and also of the descent we had just made.

After passing the Blue Lake we followed the track down and around the northern slopes of Mount Tongariro, descending steeply in a zig-zag pattern on tussock slopes passing close to the steaming Ketetahi Hot Springs.

The final part of the trek was through beautiful native bush and we arrived at the end of the track relieved and excited, despite the sudden downpour of heavy rain just 30 minutes from the finish!

So we made it! The trek took us between seven to eight hours to complete in often difficult and changeable weather conditions. It was certainly a challenge but it was an incredible experience and a privilege to do in memory of William. Many thanks to Lisa and Joanne for their support and sharing this experience with us. Finally, a big thank you to all those who kindly sponsored us to do this trek. We really appreciate your support for the SDBTT William Doolin Fund.