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We left Lake Taupo early and first stop was Waitomo to see the glow worms in their caves. Fascinating to watch the tiny blue dots of light appear as your eyes got used to the darkness. Stopped at another town to stock up for our trip to national park..for all of it's grand sounding name there isn't a lot there! The capital of King County there is a large rock with a top hat in the centre of town..not quite sure why... on the way to national park we stopped at some waterfalls..where it was possible to jump off the edge of the waterfall into the pool below..if you really wanted to..me? I got some great pictures!!
Artived at national park yha to discover that there was a good pub next door..there was also a massive climbing wall/hall in the middle of the hostel with some of the rooms actually behind the wall.
Amanda had organised a cheap bbq for us ..$10 for steak, sausage and a burger..a patty as they are known locally..I sloped off to bed as I had to get up early for the walk in the morning..sad to say goodbye to my magic companions, especially Amanda..
7.10 roll call on the bus out to the bottom of the Tongariro crossing..and I was there nice and early due to the fact that there was a girl snoring in my cosy/very hot dorm...that was not a hazard I had foreseen!!
The walk was amazing!! I may not be the fastest walker but you really do need to stop and look about you every few minutes. Mostly a slight incline, with a couple of steep climbs/scrambles. The first climb they have put a lot of steps in place, the second from Castle Crater is sleep loose and stony...quite challenging! ! It was even more difficult on the way down as the sand stains on my backside showed!!
At the top you have fantatstic views of the emerald lakes, Mount Doom and the whole country seems to be laid at your feet. You can't do the crossing all the way, its an up and back, as there was an eruption there in 2009 which is still going on. You can see the vapour rising and smell the sulphur as you climb the saddle. Very proud of myself for doing it, but my knees were definitely feeling it as I came down..about 19km in total..shower and some food and then conversations in the hostel kitchen.. I was in bed by 10.00 and out like a light!
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