Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hello,
The day after our last blog we did the Tongariro crossing, which according to the brochure is the best one day walk in the world which was a good job as we had to get up bloody early to do it. We weren't diappointed though as it was a really good day. The walk goes in between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngruurururua...., better known as Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. We were very luck with the weather again so had really good views of both volcanoes. The walk was steady to start with and then we had to put on crampons and head up Devils staircase to one of the lower craters. We then walked across the crater and up a steep ridge the other side. Vicky got a bit scared at this bit but still managed to make it to the top. We then had lunch at the highest point of the walk which was probably our best picnic spot so far. We werent able to cplete the crossing as there was a high avalanche and ice danger so we had to go back the way we came. This was disappointing at first but turned out ok in the end as we got to bum sledge most of the way which is much easier than walking downhill.
The next day we left Taupo and went to Rotorua. This place is very geo thermally active and so stank of egg. We had a quick pedalo on the lake and then a walk around a park with lots of mud pools and thermal springs. Then in the evening we went to a Maori village thing. The evening started with a walk through the woods until we were attacked by a group of maori warriors in a canoe who were very scantily dressed for this time of year. We eventually made peace with their chief and so watched a performance of some of their instruments and weapons which was very interesting and then they performed a Haka. We then went for dinner which was made in a Hangi, which is an earth oven. There was basically a big buffet with lots of meat and potato so I set about getting my moneys worth and did a pretty good job! After dinner we went for a night walk through the bush and saw some glow worms and then went into a Kiwi sanctuary and saw two Kiwi's that they were raising to put back in the wild. We really liked this bit as we had heard about the kiwis everywhere we've been but hadnt seen one. They were bigger than we thought and have a really loud call. In the end we liked them so much we ended up adopting one although Vicky was a little disappointed that this didnt mean that we could keep it.
After Rotorua we headed up to the Coromandel Peninsula. This has lots of nice beaches and coastline but as it was a weekend there were lots of other people there. We hadn't been used to this at other places we had been and to be honest were a bit annoyed!
At the moment we are in Paihia, in the Bay of Islands. Yesterday we took a trip up to Cape Reinga, right near the top of the Island. This is where all of the Maori spirits go when they die so is very significant to them. Also up here is 90 Mile beach which is a registered highway (although our insurance didnt cover us in the van so we took a tour). It also has some massive sand dunes on it where we stopped for some sand boarding which was fun. We then drove down the beach and had fish and chips.
Were now making our way down to Auckland ready to fly out on Saturday.
- comments