Taranaki

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So we arrived in Stratford, a place where Gareth and Renee lives. This place is somewhat amazing as all you can see is the Mt Taranaki which is huge! Stratford is right before the Egmont National Park about 23 km from Dawson Falls Visitor Centre which is the entrance to the peaks. Stratford is nice place to stay for couple of days. Its streets are named after the characters of Shakespeare's plays.

Taranaki (2518m)- the sleeping giant - Almost perfect in its symetry, Mount Egmont/Taranaki is the largest in a series of volcanoes that have erupted and eroded away in Taranaki over the last 2 million years. With its eruption in 1775, the present cone formed some 20 000 years ago is considered dormant.

We had couple of ciders the first night so you can imagine how we felt the following morning, the morning of our hike to Mt Taranaki. We set of about 11am which is quite late considering that the walk should have taken approximately 8 hours return. However, as the weather looked quite cloudy and you never know how it can change up there, we decided to hike the Pahntoms Peak Mt Taranaki instead which is only just below 1900m.

Guys, this was the most challenging hike I ever had to do! I wanted to give up. Not forgetting that I was having a slight headache from the cider night before and that is was so hot! You go through the forest first, carry on through the bush and then the steep steps up. We walked through the clouds and that is where the steps stopped. We ended up on a path with little stones which where bringing you down with every step. You did three, ended up two down. Terrible, I suffered seriously! My calfs! Stones in my Salomon boots, thirsty and hungry! Ha ha. I think we had to do about 200 m of this and we were rewarded with one of the best views. Mt Taranaki Peak with the clouds and ice spots. We hid in the hut which was built back in 1930 by local men who had to climb it 150times! The hike down was a little better still ended up on my ass more then 5times. I was battered and was crying for a rest.

It has been two days now since the hike and I still have a problem walking! We booked a ferry to take us across to South Island from Wellington next Friday and might meet up with Greet, a couchsurfer, who lives near Wellington.

We had a good fun with Gareth and Renee, the boys went wild pig hunting today. They have an unusual pet at home. They have a labrador & rottweiler cross called Zelda and a baby possum which picture I will post. This animal gets killed big time over here as it eats the bush literally! People kill them for the fur as well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possum It is a weird animal, something between a monkey and a cat! So goats and possums are considered as pests over here, however protected in Australia. They do lots of damage to native trees and wildlife. People set lots of traps in bushes, it will brake their leg and then people wack them over their head. For 1kg of their fur, you get about $100.

We watched a NZ film: Once Were Warriors...highly recommended!

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