O my God guys I so wish you were all here with me to experience two of the best days ever!!! Yesterday finally got to do the Tongariro Crossing (Accross Mordor) and it was so worth the wait. The scenery was too stunning for words - went from volcanic rocks, across snow, down the other side of the volcano and into rainforest!!! It was amazing - didn't see any Orks thankfully but did have lunch on the summit of Mt Doom and had a snowball fight too! The hardest bit was Devil,s Staircase - very appropriately named as it was a killer but once you were up there it was incredible. When we had lunch o the summit the ground we sat on was warm - felt very odd sitting on top of a volcano but worth every drop of sweat! Best walk ever. After a 5.30am start and having walked 17K up a mountain which took 8 hours we all hit the sauna - fantastic. Just what our tired muscles needed! The driver then cooked us a lovely dinner and we just chilled out for the remainder of the night. Now.....I was supposed to be leaving this morning but i've had a slight change of plans.........it is so bloody fantastic here (staying at a top ski lodge at the foot of Mt. Ruapehu - for backpacker prices too (don't ask how we managed that one i'm not even sure myself!)). So me, Vince, Paul and Christian are staying here for a few more days. As a result i was able to get up Mt. Ruapehu and spend the entire day snowboarding!!!!!!! O my god it was absolutely stunning. Despite it being spring the snow cover was still good and the weather perfect for boarding. The day ended with a very long soak in the spa....perfect. The four of us get on really well and loved the walk so much that we are heading to Mt. Taranyaki (M. Edmond to most) to climb that next. Probably gonna leave here on saturday and get a hire car then road trip it to the West Coast. Looking forward to it Loving every minute xx