Tongiriro

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From Wellington we went to Napier- it´s a city on the eastern coast with buildings of art deco style everywhere. The drive wasn´t bad- the scenery was very like home in parts & there were great fruit & veg stalls & shops on the roadside so we ended up with our own little mini-mart inte boot of the car- no joke!!

We only stayed a short while in Napier, taking a wander about to get a feel for the place before we moved on to Taupo. In Taupo I was meeting a friend from home that night, Saidhbhe. Taupo is a big town beside the largest lake in the country- a lake in a hollow that was carved out from volcanic activity. There was an iron man on that day so there were loads of very determined athletes/ demented people milling about. Ok I may get the distances confused but they start at 7am in the morning doing a 3km swim, 180km cycle & then a 42km run- or something like that. We went to watch some of the competitors coming in & this was at 12 that night....after 17 hours of of pure agonising labour. And it must have been the wettest & windiest day ever. There were a few who were fit for a hospital bed & that´s no exaggeration. It´s amazing what these people put themselves through! I wouldn´t do it, many do & fair play to them but it takes over your life to train for......yeah I wouldn´t have the determination......& there´s more enjoyable ways to spend your time in my opinion than endless training. It´s an amazing achievement though!

The following day we went to Huka Falls & had a an impromptu feed en route form the blackberry bushes along the path. The falls were nice....a bit it like a massive jacuzzi bath but I wouldn´t recommend you get in cause I´d say that´d be the end of you. There are lovely hot springs along the way too, so there were loads from the iron man soothing their tired muscles. That evening we moved on to Turanga.

We stayed in a lovely hostel there but it was one of those places where it was so nicely set up but you still come away disappointed because the owner is bitter & twisted & has been working in the business too long. A pity cause the place was charming. Anyway we weren´t there for the hostel. We came to do the Tongiriro Crossing which is a hike across a volcano that is no longer active.....such that´s it´s not going to blow any time soon.....There are loads of vents of sulphur gas coming out along the mountain.....a yellow gas rising up than smells a million times worse than rotten eggs. It´s gross. All part of the experience I guess. So up we rose early for the hike. Started off fine but once we started the ascent the rain & wind welcomed us to the mountain. We didn´t get all the seasons in one day but it felt like it. We were never as cold so we moved as fast as we could- stopping now & again to swap the socks that were acting as our wooly hand-warmers for the day.....otherwise we would have lost our fingers to frost-bite. We could never see that far ahead of us but at the top of the mountain it was like another world- what you´d imagine Mars to be like! It was nice to do, great to finish & even better when 4 & half hours later we were lying in the sun heating up our blood-starved limbs.

So no more hanging around. We had a bit of a sleep-in the following day & off to Rotorua with us.

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