Boxing day was an early start for the Tongariro Crossing, 19.4km across the volcanic landscape of Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. The start was packed with fellow trampers, although not quite the 1000 people that do this walk every day in peak season! The going was fairly easy for the first few miles until we started ascending to the saddles of the volcanoes, when it started to get a bit blowy!

By the time we’d scrambled up the scree slopes to the peak of the Red Crater we were having to almost crawl to stop being blown off the edge! We had incredible views thanks to the fine weather, all the way over to the West coast and later North over Lake Taupo. The storms had put us off doing this 2 years ago and we’re glad we hadn’t attempted it as it would be pretty miserable in the wet! A few hours later we’d finished in plenty of time for our shuttle pickup and a well deserved reward of fishfingers, chips and beans, DVD’s, wine and cake at our hostel!

The next day we left National Park and drove West along the ‘forgotten highway’ until we reached Whangamomona, a town so remote they’d declared themselves a Republic in 1989! We had lunch here in the only Hotel and collected another stamp for our passports before returning to New Zealand and the West coast.

The West coast is dominated by the massive Mount Taranaki, a volcano we caught a glimpse of from the heights of the Tongariro Crossing a few hundred miles away. It was now completely invisible however – the local weather is forecast by the following rule: If you can see the Volcano, it’s going to rain. If you can’t see the Volcano, it’s already raining! The latter was true for the next few days so we didn’t spend long around here, briefly checking out New Plymouth which was voted the best city in NZ last year. It was hard for us to see the attraction as everywhere seems miserable when it’s tipping it down, plus most of New Zealand grinds to a halt over Christmas and New Year so there’s nothing open anyway!

Following the Surf Highway around the coast we visited Wanganui, or Whanganui – the inclusion of the ‘h’ being a topic of National debate, and then back inland towards the University town of Palmerston North where we settled for a couple of days over New Year. We managed to keep ourselves awake for New Years Eve, joining the masses in the town square for a concert and the shortest fireworks display we’ve ever seen!

Further south were the towns of the Wairarapa – lots of cafe’s, although finding one open was still a struggle, 2L tubs of ice-cream, a round of golf, the cinema and walks around the Forests kept us busy although the highlight was Stonehenge Aotearoa – a working replica of the Salisbury stone circle in someone’s back garden!

The 90 minute tour was excellent, explaining how the calender works, plus a bit of astrology and astronomy too – apparently most people, including Zoë, have a different star sign to those commonly published in newspapers etc.. something to do with us using 2000 year old star charts and the wobble of the earth!

For the last few days we’ve explored the capital Wellington, touring the impressive Parliament buildings – the whole thing being mounted on shock absorbers due to the fault line running 400m away! They also have the unique system of being able to write to the Government and be guaranteed the opportunity to address the Select committee on any subject – no filtering, screening or censorship and while doing so have absolute freedom of speech with immunity from prosecution etc..! We also took plenty of photos and weren’t accused of being terrorists!

The rest of our time in the city was spent in other museums, botanic gardens and replenishing our personal library in the 2^nd hand bookshops. Wellington has also been host for the last 10days to Unicon – the World Unicycle Championships! We managed to catch a bit of the Trials competition by the waterfront which was pretty impressive – try jumping a unicycle from the roof of a shipping container over a 6ft gap onto a fork-lift truck! Zoë was cringing at the lack of safety harnesses!

I’d have liked to witness some of the other events on the program, including unicycle hockey and rugby, the downhill races and yesterday’s cross country marathon! We’re out of time on the North Island however. I’m writing this as we sail over the Cook Strait on the old Pride of Cherbourg ferry to Picton where we spent Christmas a couple of years ago. We have no plans for the South Island so far – we want to check out the top of the Island for job and house potential but as it’s also a very popular summer holiday destination we may postpone our investigation and head south to avoid the hordes!

When I look around the world, I cant help notice the juxtaposition of what seems to be amazing, and what seems to be broken. The world works so well in so many ways, yet simultaneously it doesn’t. The human body is an amazing feat of engineering/evolution. Medicine has broadened my understanding of the human body, but it has also just revealed how little we really know about it. It seems the more we learn, the more we realise we need to learn! It is incredible how well the body works together in harmony to produce a living, breathing, feeling human being.

… except when it doesnt work.

Hannah and I recently went to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in the central north island, we had spectacular weather, the days either side were miserable and raining, but on the day of the crossing, we had picture perfect blue skies. The walk was amazing, and the scenary spectacular (Click on the photo below to see the photos).

We couldnt help but marvel at God’s creation, at the beauty of it, and how amazing New Zealand is. I think we have particular appreciation for our own country after having travelled for a bit. There is amazing scenery overseas, but very often, we would think ‘we have this back in NZ… and its better!’.

Amongst all of this, we would make throw away comments about other things we want to do, like doing the whole northern circuit, cycling the Otago Rail Trail, walking some of the great walks in the South Island like the Milford, The Kepler, and the Heaphy. These are the kind of comments that get thrown around in day to day life for all of us. But it hit Hannah, and then me, of the significance of what were were saying.

How do you plan for future events and adventures when your future is uncertain?…

…and not uncertain in a ‘I don’t know where I will be be in years time’, but uncertain in a different way…

…Will I be alive in a years time?….

Hopes, dreams, plans, all shattered….. How do you live today when the future is at the very most, short, and at the least, gone altogether? My life, and my world, is both simultaneously beautiful and ugly. I can’t help but admire the beauty of the world, and lament the brokenness of it.

I have realised that this simultaneous juxtaposition is required for us to be able to appreciate either of these extremes. We need ugliness in the world in order to appreciate the beauty, and vice versa. Its through my ugliness, my brokenness that I now appreciate the world in a whole new light. Its my suffering that makes the world that much brighter, that much more colourful, and that much more worth living. It is cancer that has brought a whole new meaning to life, even if that life is much shorter than anticipated.

Conversely its the beauty of life that allows me to recognise the ugly; the injustice, the oppression, the suffering, the poverty, the needless loss of life, the insatiable greed for material goods. Recognising this does not empower me to better avoid it, but to better be a part of the solution of it. I think we instinctively use this recognising ability to avoid the ugly, instead of perhaps being the solution to it. Being the solution to the ugly and the brokenness…

That’s powerful…

… or even better…

… it’s beautiful…

Beauty and ugliness; the world works but it doesnt; both cannot exist without the other.

Thanks for listening.

I got a nice surprise today! I was trawling through the Te Araroa website looking for my next walk, when I discovered that, all unbeknownst to me, the Tongariro Crossing was included. I actually did this walk several years ago, on New Year’s Day, and it still ranks for me as the best walk I’ve done – and that includes the Milford Track, which is popularly supposed to be the most spectacular in New Zealand.

Anyway, given the stupid and unreasonable length of my challenge list, I’m not about to repeat sections I’ve already done – it’s the same with the Milford Track (I want to do all the Great Walks, but have already done Milford and therefore don’t feel obliged to do it again). So that means I can tick off the Crossing.

It was a lovely sunny day when I did it, and I could see Mount Taranaki clearly from the top of the Devil’s Staircase. Walking through the South, Red, and Central Craters was amazing; Mount Doom (aka Ngauruhoe) satisfied my inner fangirl; and the tussock landscape around Ketetahi is just beautiful. (I spent several years on my OE and missed tussocks more than anything else, I think – I love the way they look, and fields of them waving in the wind somehow feels like home.) It’s a shame I’ve lost the photos, but I’ll be going back to Tongariro National Park sooner or later to do the Northern Circuit (another Great Walk) and that covers the same ground, really, as the Crossing, so I’ll take more then.

So that’s another tiny bit of Te Araroa shaved off. I’m feeling even more satisfied with the walk in retrospect, now.

In preparation for the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing we undertook a little walk to Silica Rapids near Whakapapa.  It was a nice little walk in amongst the weird volcanic landscape.  There were little bright orange streams and weird creamy coloured rocks. 

Last Sunday we felt ready for the Crossing.  It’s a long hike of 19.4km and we were lucky to have booked a beautiful sunny day for it!  An important point to note is that it was -5 (yes, I said minus 5) degrees overnight and our little campervan heater stopped working!!!! Aaaagh awful, but now fixed!  Anyway… we set off at 7.30am and were greeted with an easy track (to start with), with a lovely view of Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom) and Mount Tongariro which we were going to cross between.  We could also see Mount Ruapehu, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest ski field and you could even see Mount Egmont, 180km away in the distance. 

After a long winding track, we hit Devil’s Staircase.  This is very much like it sounds – a long steep set of stairs up the mountain!  At the top there was tons of snow around and we had to begin walking on it, as well as some ice, which was cracking beneath our feet.  This made the hiking a little more difficult! 

We crossed various melting ice covered streams and little lakes.  Next to the track we could see the red crater (highest point at 1886m), as well as other highlights, such as the emerald and blue lakes.  The emerald ones were really bright green (as you would imagine, but it’s cool to see!).  Most of the lakes were quite frozen, but this just seemed to make the views more spectacular.  We would like to see the summer colours there to compare - so Marianne and Helen please show us your pics!

Following a lot of snowy climbing, we descended 1200 metres passed some natural thermal springs, with lots of steam coming out of the ground and through some alpine forest to the end of the tramp.  We would highly recommend this hike.  It’s one of the best ones we have done.

I still can’t believe I completed this hike, but it was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen and one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.

Hey,

das letzte mal als ich schrieb, hatte ich gerade das tongariro crossing im tongariro nationalpark vor mir. der tongariro nationalpark ist welterbe der unesco und im park selbst sind 3 vulkane. der ruapehu steht derzeit kurz vorm ueberlaufen.
der nationalpark war auch drehort fuer mordor und mont doom im herr der ringe.
wenn die szenen im film den ausblicken waehrend der wanderung das wasser reichen koennen, muss ich mir diesen film doch wohl endlich mal anschauen.

die wanderung ist 16 km lang und hat 750 meter anstieg…..

gelernt habe ich:

der gedachte hoechste punkt (gipfel) ist niemals der tatsaechliche hoechste punkt!

zwischen dem gedachten und dem tatsaechlichen hoechsten punkt liegen mindestens 12 gedachte hoechste punkte. diese gedachten hoechsten punkte fuehren zu einer uebermotiviation (nur noch kurz um die ecke, dann biste oben) und zwangslauefig zu kraefteverlust….
wird aber wettgemacht durch einen grandiosen ausblick!
halbtrockene ebenen, dampfende fumarolen, genial klare seen und baeche und zum schluss noch regenwald.

das wetter war wirklich grandios, kaum eine wolke und mein antiimperialistischer regenschutzponcho kam nicht zum einsatz.
ist es nicht seltsam, dass die im US-shop antiimperialistische regenschutzwaelle verkaufen…..naja, vielleicht wissen die das ja garnicht, oder aber der verkaeufer ist ein kleiner revolutionaer und hat den poncho aus dem kleinen depot unter der ladentheke entnommen…..lag wohl direkt unter dem “nur kriegstreiber trinken coke” t-shirt!

leider war es nicht wirklich eine einsame wanderung…..
stellt euch eine mischung aus 1. maiwanderung und lauftreff im stadtwald vor…..dann habt ihr ungefaehr ein gefuehl von dem, was da oben los war.

ein trupp hatte auch tatsaechlich einen ghettoblaster dabei…..leider kein bier!

am parkplatz angekommen, hatte ich eigentlich mit biergaerten und mc donalds gerechnet……nix….einfach nur busse die darauf warteten die wanderer wieder einzusammeln…..fucking natur

bin am naechsten tag weiter nach napier. wollte eigentlich nach wairoa, aber es gab keine direkte busverbindung.

wollte dann eigentlich nur eine nacht hier bleiben. aber ich hab ein nettes hotel fuer nur 65 Nz-Dollar (=DM) mit eigenem bad und kuehlschrank und einer riesigen terasse zu dem alle zimmer zugang haben.

hab dann noch ne zweite nacht gebucht und gestern eine tour zu einer, der weltweit groessten, toelpelkolonie (grosser vogel mit 2 meter spannweite) gemacht.

die kolonie liegt ca. 30 km suedlich. eine gebuchte tour wollte ich mir sparen und bin daher die ersten 10 km gelaufen. die strecke geht direkt am meer und lang, daher war es mal wieder an der zeit nach meinem alten freund dem saltodelphin ausschau zu halten…. mache mir doch mittlerweile ein wenig sorgen um ihn…..

bin dann wieder getrampt. mir faellt gerade ein, hatte ich nicht mal gesagt ich wuerde nicht zu zwei maennern ins auto steigen? naja, schwamm drueber…..die wirklich boesen maenner erkennt man schliesslich an diesen lustigen t-shirts: ich bin der, vor dem euch eure eltern immer gewarnt haben!

die zwei haben mich direkt zum start eines walkways gebracht, obwohl die eigentlich nicht wirklich die selbe richtung hatten…
ab da musste ich nochmal 11km direkt am wasser entlang laufen und dann nochmal 20 minuten hoch aufs plateau, wo die voegel sind.
leider hatte man nur 30 min zeit, da man vor der flut wieder zurueck muss….der walkway wird sonst ueberschwemmt und ich hab es ja nicht so mit der schwimmerei.

zurueck bin ich allerdings auf dem anhaenger eines traktors. das war eine prima gelegenheit um eine mitfahrgelegenheit nach napier zu finden.

es ist hier verdammt warm…..das richtige wetter fuer bauchfreie t-shirts bin leider nicht bauchfrei…..also nur t-shirt!

um eins geht der bus nach wairoa, dort wird es hoffentlich ein wenig weniger touristisch. mein fahrer von gestern meinte es gaebe jede menge maorigangs dort…..mir wurscht! solange die den schafen nicht am gehoern rumzerren, werden wir schon miteinander klarkommen!

bis die naechte
tiffi

Auf Frodos Spuren… Im Tongariro Nationalpark wurden viele Szenen von Lord of the Rings gedreht. Hier war Mordor, die Heimat von Sauron. Wenn man wie wir den Tongariro crossed, sieht man warum… wir sind uns echt wie Frodo und Sam (oder Gollum) vorgekommen.

Der hoechste immer noch aktive Vulkan im Nationalpark ist der Ruapehu.

Aber viel schoener ist Mt Ngauruhoe, Mount Doom oder Schicksalsberg…

Wir haben uns auf den Weg gemacht  den Tongariro zu durchqueren und zu besteigen. Ganze 23km an einem Tag… ich weiss ned, wer auf so eine verrueckte Idee kommt und sich freiwillig so quaelt. Ok, wir, aber es hat sich schon gelohnt. Auch wenn man sich ab und zu vorgekommen ist, als waere man im Muenchen aufn Stachus… Leute ueber Leute…

Noch fit und mit guter Laune sind wir nach einer Stunde an den Soda Springs angekommen.

Frodo – fast am Ziel. Nur noch den Berg hoch und den Ring ins Feuer werfen. my precious

Hier haben wir schon 6km hinter uns. Wir durchqueren den South Crater des Tongariro…

Mount Doom vom Gipfel des Tangariro.

Ein Vulkan ist eben ein Vulkan. Also ist es ab und zu heiss – obwohl wir in 2000m Hoehe sind – und es stink nach Schwefel! Aber es ist mega faszinierend auf so einem Berg zu sein.

Nach 10km kommen wir am Red Crater an… im Hintergrund wieder zum 100000 mal Mount Doom! Aber er ist einfach sooooo toll!!!

Vom Gipfel des Red Crater hatten wir einen herrlichen Ausblick auf die Emerald Lakes… Leider zum Baden ungeeignet, aber zum Anschauen herrlich. Und wer sieht die 500 Orks, aehm, anderen Touristen auf dem Bild?

Central Crater vor Red Crater vor Mount Doom…

Wir kommen uns echt vor wie in Mordor… wir muessen den Film unbedingt mal wieder anschauen… vielleicht erkennen wir die Orte genau wieder…

Und jetzt nach 23km sind wir alle. Aber es war echt genial durch Mordor zu laufen. Vielleicht haetten wir im Winter gehen sollen. Und es wie der Skiwi machen… mit den Ski den Berg runterfahren.

We arrived sometime around noon in Auckland. Since we had a pretty ambitious itinerary set, and didn’t really feel like dealing with mass transit, we headed to the car rental desk to pick up some wheels. Surprisingly, driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car really wasn’t all that big of an adjustment since we weren’t accustomed to driving on either side of the road.

We drove south to the town of Hamilton to meet up with our friend and Jim’s former colleague Emily, who is spending some time traveling around the country. Our first stop was to the small town of Waitomo. There isn’t much going on in Waitomo except for a large network of glow worm filled caves that tourists flock to. We got a little turned around on our way there and ended up stopping off at our first of several extremely helpful tourist information booths called I-Sites. The nice people at the I-Site were able to book our cave tour for the following day and also gave us some good directions to make our way to Waitomo.

Our accommodations in Waitomo were one-of-a-kind to say the least. We stayed at Woodlyn Park, home of the enterprising sheep shearer Billy Black and his creative theme based motels including the Hobbit Motel, Train Motel, and Plane Motel. We stayed in the only room available in the Waitanic Motel. As the name suggests, it was an old ferry boat refurbished into a four room hotel. We were a little skeptical, but upon boarding the vessel it was actually a very nice place complete with a couple bedrooms, full kitchen, nice bathroom and port holes.

The following day, we got up early to prepare for our 9:00am black water rafting trip called Black Labyrinth. At the tour company’s office, we suited up in our our umpa-lumpa-esq (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) outfits, which, in addition to looking pretty funny, also happened to be wet, cold and a little smelly. After a few good laughs at our cool get-ups, we shuttled up to the caves to retrieve our inner tubes. The next few hours we would spend squeezing, hiking, jumping and floating our way through a huge cave system. One of the more un-nerving things we had to do was the ‘leap of faith’ where we crept out to the edge of a waterfall, turned backwards, placed our tubes around our butts, and jumped back into the blackness. Toward the end of the trip, with most of the hiking and jumping over with, we spent some time floating peacefully down the cave in the pitch black with only the star-like patchwork of glow worms to lead us out of the cave and into the daylight.

After a hot shower and some soup, we continued on to the self-proclaimed ‘Trout Fishing Capital of the World’ (more about that nonsense later) of Turangi. We stopped off at I-Site number two, and booked two nights of accommodations at the Judge’s Pool Motel, and also reserved spot on a shuttle bus for our hike the next day.

The shuttle bus arrived at 6:30 the following morning to take us to the trail head for the Tongariro Crossing, claimed to be one the the top day hikes in the world. It’s an 18.5 kilometer (11.5 miles) hike that leads up into and out of several volcanic craters, and back down though a beautiful valley looking out over the immense Lake Taupo. Heavy wind, rain and fog plagued the first half of the hike, and we missed out on some great views of Mt. Ngauruhoe from the top of Red Crater, the high point of the hike. Finally on our decent, the clouds began to clear and let the sun peak through. We stopped for lunch at a camping hut and were able to get out of the wind. Due to frozen fingers and lack of photo opportunities, we finished the hike in just under six hours verses the prescribed seven to eight.

As we were in a trout capital, Jim couldn’t pass up the opportunity to throw in a line. Not too tired from the hike, he rented waders and fly rod and reel, bought himself a fishing licence and gave it his best on the Tongariro River. After two excursions in the afternoon he called it a day without even a nibble. So much for Trout Capital of the World.

The next day, we headed north along the east side of Lake Taupo with the destination of Rotorua. We stopped off in Taupo to visit our friendly booking friends at I-Site for our accommodations and got a coffee before getting on the road again. On the way to Rotorua, we stopped off to visit the steaming, bubbling, gurgling, and  incredibly smelly geothermal wonderland of Wai-o-tapu.

We got into Rotorua in the afternoon once again visiting the neighborhood I-Site for help in booking a visit to a traditional Maori (New Zealand’s original inhabitants) village. That night we spent the evening with the Mitai tribe and learned a little about their culture and customs, and watched a performance of their traditional song and dance. The best part of the evening though, was the vast amount of food we consumed at the hangi or feast. It was a pretty impressive eating performance we put on.

Our last day in Rotorua, Emily went off to get pampered at the Polynesian Spa, while we explored the town. We later walked through the town’s museum and learned quite a bit about the strange and interesting geothermal history of Rotorua. Inspired by all the talk of the the mineral water’s healing powers, we took advantage of the 108 degree mineral pool at our motel followed by a nice dip in the bubbly spa. Despite being smelly, slimy and uncomfortably hot, we think the mineral waters did manage to help out our sore hiker’s muscles.

We parted ways with Emily the following morning, and drove north to Auckland to check out NZ city life for a few days. It’s a pretty walkable city and we covered most of the central area in a short amount of time. Auckland is know as the “City of Sails,” so we decided to take a nice dinner sail out into the harbour. It was a fun evening on the water and a great way to close out our stay in NZ.

Das aufregenste Event nach unserem Fallschirmsprung am letzten Donnerstag folgt schon am darauffolgenden Tag. Der ca. 20 Kilometer lange Walk ueber das Tongariro Gebirge fuehrt uns an einigen aktiven Vulkankratern, darunter auch dem Schicksalsberg aus Herr der Ringe, und wunderschoen gelegenen Bergseen vorbei. Petrus meint es heute gut mit uns und schickt uns allerbestes Wetter und optimale Bedingungen fuer atemberaubende Ausblicke. Heute gibt’s mal wieder weniger Text, dafuer mehr zu sehen. Hier eine kleine Bildersammlung:

Natuerlich haben wir auch einige Fotos mit uns drauf

Nach sieben Stunden Wanderung und einigen Blasen spaeter (in Joggingschuhen zu wandern ist halt doch nicht das Wahre) kommen wir erschoepft, aber immer noch gut gelaunt am Parkplatz an. Ich glaube ich kann sagen, dass das Tongariro Crossing mein persoenliches Highlight in Neuseeland war.

Tatsaechlich wieder in der Mitte von der Nordinsel – musste dafuer auch 6 Stunden Fahrt hinter mich bringen, um an den schoenen Lake Taupo zu kommen

Als letzte Aktion wollen Meika und ich hier noch das Tongariro Crossing mitmachen (gleich hinter dem Schicksalsberg), weil der so schoen (aber anstrengend) sein soll

Mal sehen, wie lange wir fuer die Wanderung brauchen *g*

Die letzten Tage haben wir noch mit Julian verbracht, der morgen endgueltig alleine weiterreist. Heute abend gibt’s also erstmal Pizza Hut zur Feier und vllt noch ein Bierchen – aber die Tour geht morgen um zwanzig nach sechs los. Pluspunkt: Heute Nacht bekommen wir eine Stunde geschenkt

Mira

The past few weeks have been incredible here in NZ. Chris and I have been driving all over the North Island and seeing basically everything there is to see. We arrived on the south Island about a week ago and have been looking for jobs and apartments in the ski-town of WANAKA. We plan on living here during the season. Our game plan is to find some jobs (before all the guys like us who havent shown up yet do), travel the South Island a little bit more and then settle down and start work.

But here’s a bit of what we have been doing in the meantime.

1) Building a Hot Tub in the sand (some may call it a puddle) and proceeding to lay in it as we watched the waves crash on the beach @ hot water beach, coromandel.

1 a.) Bathing in Kerosene Creek river of hot water (about 101 degrees)

2) Zorbing… (this video is kinda weak, its actually a lot faster when we did it) basically as it looks, jumping into a huge plastic bubble, adding water and being rolled down a huge hill.

3) Alpine Luging… go carts that go almost 40 mph down hills on small windy tracks.

4) Catching a duck… check christopher erleys facebook photos.

5) Blackwater Rafting… jumping in an intertube and floating through a LONG series of caves.

6) Witnessing Gloworms in the waitomo caves.

7) Being apart of a drinking bender with a bunch of Locals in Waitomo… no tourists allowed haha.

8 ) Doing the Tongariro Crossing, See Chris’s pictures for more detail.

9) Driving through Mt. Taranaki National Park. Filming location of the Last Samurai

10) Taking the Ferry across Cook Strait… and looking at all the different views along the way.

well, that about sums up the past few weeks… sorry the blogging hasn’t been more regular. As soon as we get a place we will have a regular internet connection and wont have to poach or use cafes. So, with that said my blog entries will become pretty regular.

Much love to all my readers.

I just posted a New Zealand slide show update under the “photos” tab so check that out if you are interested.

 This will be my last full day in New Zealand, so we will head back up to see Katha and Daniel and celebrate Kiwi style with their friend Amanda for her birthday.

 New Zealand has been amazing, from the bustling city of Wellington, located on hills overlooking the ocean to the quaint town of Napier, known for its world-famous wineries. In what other country can you drive just 1 hour and go from exploring caves to cheering at an A1 race car event with Paris Hilton?! (Check out A1 in Lake Taupo at the link: http://motoring.iafrica.com/a1grandprix/788140.htm)

 As of tomorrow I will be off to the Land of Oz and will update you soon!

Below: A view from the 6 hour hike called Tongariro Crossing.

Warning: This post is long. Almost as long as the Tongariro Crossing. (Written in April 2007)

When I was in New Zealand, it was a running joke that I was a bit behind with my travel journal- two weeks after one particularly challenging day, I was still sitting down and failing to write about the Tongariro Crossing because, I joked, it was just too traumatic to recount so close to the event.

The evening I got back from this delightful tramp across the Kiwi countryside, I kept getting concerned looks and being asked if I was OK because I looked like I’d been crying non stop for about a week.

“Are you alright?” they would ask.
“Yes- I did the Tongariro crossing today.” I explained.
“Ah,” they replied as if that made everything perfectly clear.

I didn’t get chance to explain that my eyes had been streaming all day as I hiked over some mountains, dodged around some precarious cliffs in the snow and scaled an active volcano in the vicinity of the infamous Mount Ruapehu, aka Mount Doom.

The Tongariro Crossing, is a trek of just under 10,000 smoots across Tongariro National Park and is meant to be one of the worlds best one day walks. I assume that’s why I let myself be talked into getting up at 6am the day after a big night out to be driven to a deserted pathway and left to brave the elements. Well, it was as deserted as a pathway can be when there are three coachfuls of crazy people being dropped off to go on a long walk at 7am.

Due to some snowfall, it was touch and go as to whether we would be allowed to do the summer trek (deserted at a car park and met at the other side of some mountains) or the winter version with crampons and a guide. They decided that we’d probably be okay, as long as we avoided attempting the detour to summit Mount Ngaurahoe.

During the initial walk from Mangatepopo car park to Soda Springs, I started to wake up a bit and even begin to feel like it could be a good day out after all. It was a nice flat stroll along a boardwalk (to stop our feet from getting wet). I think they do this to lure you into a false sense of security, because climbing to the top of the South Crater from Soda Springs was certainly no picnic.

As I stumbled up the rocks, it occurred to me that I wasn’t walking anymore- this was more like mountain climbing. It was made worse by the fact that I was under the impression that the next climb would be worse and I began to doubt my ability to last the day. After much stopping and starting, I finally reached the top of the snow clad mountain where I could stand back and enjoy the view.

I checked out my progress on the map and was delighted to discover that the dreaded ‘Devil’s Staircase’ wasn’t at the next peak as I’d originally thought and that I’d already done the hard bit. I had climbed the Devil’s Staircase without realising it!

The next part of the walk was across a flat ‘football field’ of snow before another climb to the top of the Red Crater for lunch where we sat on the warm moist ground and wondered whether we should be worried that the warm ground was warm because it was an active volcano…

…we didn’t wonder for long though- too busy taking in the view. On a very clear day, and with very good eyesight (neither of which were available to me that day), you can apparently see out to the East and the West coast of New Zealand.

After a treacherous slide down the side of the Red Crater over loose scoria we came to the celebrity of the Tongariro Crossing: The Emerald Lakes. They were smelly, but beautiful.

If you’re tired of reading this now, imagine how my poor little legs felt- and there was still more to come…

The next part of the journey was to the Blue Lake. Blue, and highly acidic because, it seems, all beautiful things in new Zealand are inherently evil (like the Tongariro Crossing).

Following that, there was, what is described on the Tongariro Crossing website as a ’short easy climb to the North Crater’. This was in fact a dangerous slippy traverse across a narrow path which fell away to the right in what can only be described as a very scary drop. You could see holes in the snow where people had tried helplessly to grab onto something… anything, leaving nothing but fingerprints in the snow to line the pathway.

So we got out of that alive and made it out to the other side, through to the sulphur-rich Hot Springs and then quite a lot of forest before finally, seven hours later, reaching the car park at the other end.

And that was it really. Finally, after one and a half years I have finished writing about the Tongariro Crossing. It feels good.

Cabbage (ti) trees are my favourite trees – perhaps because of a residual affection for Dr. Seuss stories and illustrations. I am finally wake, late , amongst a grove of their bushy incongurious heads, 11km off State Highway 47 down a rutted forest access-way. The trees are haloed by the still pale blue morning sky and the only sounds are of cicada, the occasional tui – and is that a cookoo? – and the giggling of my daughter in her tent with her friend. The purpose of this cabbage tree visit is to celebrate my said daughter’s 12th birthday – a weekend away in the bush.

I sit by last night’s fire, which is still smouldering and heat my billy. It’s time for my morning coffee. I am feeling a tranquil loneliness, so I leave the girls to their giggling as I take a stroll in god’s pageantry with my hot blue plastic mug. I walk away from the Cabbage trees and find my way between the flax, manuaka, and beech on the edge of the gully on one side, and the hard and stubby little alpine grasses of the clearing on the other; in the bottom of the gully is one of the feeds for the Okupata Stream, a stream that will eventually join the Wanganui River and find it’s way south. I can’t hear or see the stream, but I know it’s there – we plan on going for a swim in it after we’ve been caving. Across on the far ridgeline, across the invisible stream, I enjoy watching the Kereru (Wood Pigeons) playing in the treetops, free from the shackles of civilization, free from human obstruction, mishap and sorrow – well, at least for now.

I breathe deep. Right now, I have a birthday party to attend. I turn around and make my way back to camp.

At the National Park Back Packers I sit with my back hard against the cold wall, my head too. I’m watching the girls climb the rock walls. I’m tired and it’s cold in here. The girls are doing well – it’s their first time belaying each other and they’re making all the safety checks religiously. I close my eyes and reflect on the caving.

OKUPATA CAVES

My dad would kill me, going off caving, no map, whereabouts unknown, with a recently healed but still healing back, no cell phone, whilst caring for two pre-teenage girls. This thought did flash in bold neon across my mind after we had squirmed our way through a narrow passage in full exploration mode. The passage did eventually open out and I was happily playing tour guide when I realised we had started tracing over our very own footprints. We were in a circular arm of the cave, travelling in circles with that previously mentioned narrow entry passage back to the main cave in a location unmarked. Now, I’m not one to panic, but I did quick sums estimating torch life, the warmth of our clothing, worse case scenarios and a detailed probability report while my heart did acrobatics and pinball bounces off my ribcage. These caves are so small it’s impossible to get lost. How dumb could I be? Full throttle reverse, sounding casual, ‘oh missed the exit, back we go’, hiding the emerging whites of my eyes as my fully dilated pupils searched the silt and mud for footprints like an aborigine bush tracker.

We did find our way out, but not before a probability report update and a barely hidden panic attack. Squirming back into the main cave system I tallied up the caving points of interest: glow-worms, clambering and slithering, cave-wetas, underground waterfall, underground river. If this is what you wanted for your birthday sweetie, you’ve had it, now lets get the hell out of here for mummy has had enough.

SUMMIT CLIMB – The hills are alive to the sound of music.

Leaving the Mangatepopo Hut, we, along with an international crowd ascended on Mount Tongariro. And, oblivious as they are, today’s trampers are going to be accompanied by Abba and the two dancing queens. Clambering up The Devils Staircase makes it a little hard to sing, perspire and get used to the altitude, but as we walk across the south crater; nature’s amphitheatre is reverberated to the sound of Mamma Mia and Honey Honey. A little later on as we clamber up the scree on the north side of the crater, we can clearly hear the subdued conversation of trampers a kilometre off in the basin of the south crater. The sheepish grins of the girls emerge as they realise their bellowing off-centre sing-star voices would have been amplified enough for god himself to hear.

A photo shoot, a good Samaritan effort, a giggle at the big red virgina in the sky (you’ll have to climb the mountain to know what I’m talking about there), and slipping sliding fun in the snow. What a glorious part of the world we life in, and what an amazing daughter I have, who would rather be out there doing it, than having a cake and candles at home.

Happy birthday sweetie. We made it – from the depths of Okupata to the top of Tongariro – you’re a legend. Love you heaps! X