Having just crested the Tongariro Alpine Crossing alongside the impressive Red Crater I gazed down the precipitous volcanic scree slope which sidled past the breathtaking Emerald Lakes. We’d planned to stop alongside the lakes and the only thing between me and my sandwich was this hair raising descent. 

I weighed up the options and was attracted most by the plan to skid down on my butt so that I’d not tumble head over heels off the narrow spur. At this height, this felt a very real possibility! 

Whenever a group of hikers gather around, the conversation soon turns to food and the Everest Base Camp trekkers are no different. One of the delights of this trek is the variety and abundance of food available particularly when you consider that nearly everything is physically carried in either by porter, yak or mule train. 

Below me the swollen river raged down the valley, dirty grey water rushing, crashing and tumbling, rolling boulders, tugging trees from flooded banks, swirling and churning every which way. 

Above, sky the same colour as the water closed in, the tops of the mountains remaining hidden in the murk. I knew what it was like up there, near horizontal rain driven by a malicious wind intent on tossing me off the narrow ridge. Behind, the perilous trail from where I’d descended was more a cascade than a track.