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Alreet folks! Hope all is well back home and everyone had a great Christmas and new year? As Frankie said we have been getting some grief about not updating the blog enough (only
joking parents!) so here is another installment about our little trip up to Lake Taupo to do the Tongariro Crossing - one of the "Great walks of New Zealand". Basically it is a 6-7 hour hike up a
ridge between Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings film buffs!). Its a very spectacular place as it is a volcanic area so there craters, sulphurous pools and the like dotted
around. Its about 18km in length and you climb up to about 1900m!
We set off on the trip from Wellington in Milo's super Subaru surf wagon which he kindly lent us for a few days and headed up highway number 1 towards Taupo, it was a nice drive - lots of
beautiful scenery on the way. Anyway 5 hours and a few minor mishaps later (like not knowing if the car was petrol or diesel and a strange light on the dash board which we discovered was from me
pressing a button i should have left well alone) we arrived at our motel in Taupo which was very nice and clean, a good spot to rest your bones. We made sure to have an early night as we had to be up
at 4.50am(!??) the next day to catch the bus up to the Tongariro National Park to do the walk. Now those of you who know me well will know that i am not a morning person,
never have been, dont think i ever will so this was a bit of a shock to the system!! Nevermind i recovered and off we went to catch the bus which took about an hour and a half to get up to the park,
the plan was to have a bit of a kip on the bus but unfortunately we were last on so got the worst seats - me next to some huge bloke so i was hanging off the seat trying not to fall off, and Frankie
next to some German dude who had the worst cold ever so her journey was spent hanging of her seat trying to avoid the lurgy he was coughing and spluttering everywhere!
Well we finally got up to the park and set off on the walk - unfortunately it was a bit cloudy but we still got some good views all the same. One of the first sections was a huge climb called the
devils staircase which was not nice at all - we were knackered! There were a few dodgy bits where we had to cling on with our hands as we were dragging ourselves up the craggy rocks but we made it
ok! It started to get very misty and windy as we made our way up to the top of the mountain so we were absolutely freezing! It was very spooky up at the top due to all of the mist and the ridge we
were climbing had sheer drops on either side down into large craters so if you fell you'd be in a bit of trouble! Once up and over the top you had to scramble down loads of loose shingle and pebbles
which was quite tricky and also one of the funniest things about the walk - watching Frankie surf sideways down all of the loose rocks was absolutely hilarious! Well a little bit scary to start with
as i thought she was going to go head first over the edge into one of the craters!
After that section we got to see the emerald lakes which were spectacular (and very smelly!), the colours were amazing! It was weird - the rocks we were walking along were roasting hot because of
all of the volcanic activity, then you had the eggy smelling lakes alongside you and loads of mist everywhere - very surreal! It was like being on a different planet!!
The next bit of the walk took us gradually back down the mountain and back into familiar scenery, with more trees and plants appearing along the way - by the end of the walk you are strolling
through a nice little beech forest. So that was it, we finshed it! It took about 5 & 3/4 hours all told, it probably would have taken longer if the weather was better but we hurried through as it
was so cold at the top! But hold on the drama wasnt done for the day - one of the girls on our bus started getting really sick while waiting in the car park, she was really dehydrated and started
freaking out and nearly fainted! Women eh??
Well back in Taupo that night we were completely cream crackered and couldnt actually move from the motel so ordered pizza to be delivered and promptly fell asleep after dinner at about 8pm,
tragic! We both thoroughly enjoyed the day but were still shattered the next day and it was raining we so didnt end up doing much, just went for a drive and saw the Huka Falls which were nearby.
Thats about all i think, we got back to Wellington yesterday after a fairly uneventful drive (no mishaps this time) and we all went to see a Jose Gonzales concert last night which was excellent!
Just had a quiet day today packing up our mobile homes (backpacks) for our flight up to Auckland tomorrow to pick up our campervan!
Well take care everyone, thanks for all your lovely messages, its always nice to see who's been checking up on us, keep them coming!
Chris and Frankie
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