As requested, this is my last post here.
When I reached Tongariro, I could not see my hand in front of me - the weather was so bad and it was so foggy. The day I wanted to do the walk, the weather was foggy, cloudy, windy, wet and cold. There are tour operators that are necessary to ensure that once you complete the crossing, they can bring you back (for which you need to book one beforehand). The council of tour operators check every morning for weather and other geographical factors to decide whether they would operate for the day. This decision is usually made by 6:30am every morning. On that particular day, they decided to cancel their tours. Hence, trekkers would, if they wanted to walk the crossing, would need to arrange for transport back to their accommodation. We did not risk it because of all those factors and decided to do a short walk instead.
However, the short walk turned pretty long, the track became hazardous, we slipped numerous occasions on the muddy and watery conditions of the track and finally decided to return. It took us five hours in the Tongariro Northern Circuit but because of the condition of the track, we did a total of just 10kms. However, retrospectively, the walk was something to remember.
I would recommend angelgemini and all those who are willing to do this trek, to ensure they do it in a dry season and check the weather and the tour operators before going ahead. In winter, the area is covered in snow (especially in August) and the risk factor is high. Sometimes, because of high cross winds, it is not advisable. It is good to check with the information centre in whakapapa for their view. They don't close the track, they just dont recommend doing so in case of bad weather.
All the best and I am still looking forward to doing it in the future (in summer this time)