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Published: January 14th 2008
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Tongariro Northern Circuit
walking on the moon, or at least in the middle of a cloudy volcano crater... Hi from Kaiteriteri (kuy-tear-e-tear-e)...
Wow, it has been a truley wonderful week. When I last wrote, I was waiting for the weather to clear to go on my next hike. The next day, I had the break I was hoping for and headed out for a three day trek through Tongariro National Park. It's a big tourist attration because they have the Tongariro crossing which is a one day hike over a couple of volcanoes and with some beautiful emerald green lakes. To start my trek, I got on the tourist bus and was dropped off with the hundreds of others making the one day hike. It was funny to hear some of the comments and complaints, and to see how ill prepared and out of shape some people were for this hike. It is UP a volcanoe (actually two volcanoes), but people still complained about the heights and intensity of the climb. I got a lot of funny looks and comments about my pack, because it was obviously so much bigger than everyone else's, but it was a nice change of pace to have people on the hike with me (although I didn't talk to many of them).
Luckily,
red crater, highest peak of the hike
gorgeous red and black and the ground was steaming from thermal activity. after a couple of hours, I turned off the tourist track and started heading around the mountain. I unfortunately spent my first day going too far and turned my three day hike into two days. I won't explain the reasoning there because it wasn't sound and involved a cute mountain man from the UK....yeah, its silly what a girl will do to impress a guy in the backcountry. Anyway, I ended up going about 20K that first day, not such a huge feat normally, except there was over a 1000 meters of ascent and almost 900m of descent on that day. By the time I made it to camp that night, I was shot and making mistakes. Once, I was going downhill too quickly over some slippery boulders and almost fell pretty badly (on my still recovering left leg) but my new hiking poles got stuck and barred the way, keeping me from hurting myself (I did a nice little roll onto my back like a pill bug instead). I added a new verse to my song after that (refer to last entry). So, I learned a good lesson (don't listen to cute mountain men in the back woods for
starters) BUT, more importantly, I am here to enjoy myself and take my time. So after that, I have been making sure to ease up on my expectations of my trip and myself.
After that hike, I headed down to Wellington, but it was quite a trip to get here. First our bus was late, then it broke down. Our poor bus driver had to get a new one, we transfered everyone's luggage and were off again before an hour was over. I was pretty impressed, actually, but it did make for a longer than expected day. The driver parked the bus in some random cow pasture where we pulled over. It was pretty funny to see this huge bus off-roading amongst the cows (you can only imagine what they were thinking or what the farmer thought when he returned home to find a bus in his pasture!) The odd adventure there was using the "lou" behind the farmer's woodshed while a Catholic Sister acted as lookout (we had no choice as we didn't know how long we would be there, but it was still a little funny).
When I got down to Wellington I was beat but
started out early the next morning. I had to run errands and eventually made it to the Te Papa National Museum. I was there for the Maori and New Zealand cultural/historical information, but the museum was impressive in all aspects. They had a huge science and natural history section on the first floor and the whole museum (save a few special exhibits) was free. I really enjoyed seeing some of the Maori carvings, learning their creation story and some of their history. It was a nice chance of pace from the woods as well (...although that didn't last long.) That evening I headed to a Moroccan restaurant for dinner and to watch their belly dancer. I got up and danced....a shock to many I am sure...but the girl who I had dinner with failed to capture the moment (ah the digital age, how we expect to save everything). Luckily, I got one of her and we had a nice time that evening. She was from Canada, a young girl in vet school and she was very nice but a bit of a cupcake (sweet but not very filling). Eventually we ended up at a bar and I did some more
emerald lakes
a little overcast so the lakes aren't as brilliant in the picture. dancing to a cover band who had a funk style which was great. It was a local's bar that I had found during the day so it was nice to actually be amongst Kiwis instead of the tourist strip in central downtown. Ruthie, you would have been proud, I stayed out well past 1:30 that night.....Par-ty!
Sunday was a late start which was nice because I have been up so early and to bed so early lately. I made my way to Wellington's cable car and up to their Botanical Gardens. It was a cool, breezy day and very overcast, but the rose garden was amazing, the begonias (spelling?) were HUGE and the herb garden was informative. This wasn't really a botanical garden (save for the exhibits I just mentioned) it was really a mini forrest in the middle of the city with winding trails throughout the park. It was lovely and put me right back into the woods, which I loved (especially since it was mostly down hill and I had no pack). That evening, I attended a free concert in the park at the gardens. It was a Serbian-Croatian band who played gypsy type music (they were
nap spot...so peaceful
(despite the fifty people sitting all around me) all from NZ) and they were a ton of fun. I did some more dancing there too, what a fun weekend!
Alas, Monday came and I was ready to get back on the trail (we are a day ahead here, so its probably monday now for some of you). I spent the day on the ferry, an easy ride and when we pulled into the Fjords of the southern island, it was just like the inside passage of Alaska. It made me feel home at once (although the weather was warmer and there wasn't any rain). A few bus rides later and I am finally in Kaiteriteri ready to get back on a trail tomorrow morning. This time it will be the Abel Tasman coastal trail (pretty flat I understand, but spectacular views) for five days. The evening was a bit of a fiasco for me. As usual, underprepared and overflexible, I chose too quickly my bus route without proper knowledge, as we pulled into the each station (I am no good at logistics... let's just face it). I found myself missing a few key provisions (breakfast is all really, but it IS the most important meal of the
day) and with an extra pack and no place to store it since its a one-way tramp and it would be costly and very time consuming to come back here to get it. Of course, I found a way to make it all work and actually it came to my advantage because now I am taking a water taxi which will be more fun than a bus and I got some key local info which helped me change my route for a better hike.
And so I am off, for the next round of self imposed exile into the bush (or in this case the coast, really). I have found that I have become somewhat of a social monkey spending all this time by myself. I realized I have spent about 11 out of 14 days mostly in the woods, the backcountry or some remote beach. When I get around people, I am eager to talk and interact, but as soon as I open my mouth I feel annoyed by them and find awkward (and often conspicious) ways to end the conversation or leave the room. I have become a rather big idiot I think. Ah, but how strong
my thighs. ha ha, it will all work out in the end....when I run into that cute mountain man again, maybe?
I am sending love and warmth, missing you all.................sarah
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Missy
non-member comment
High from Aurora :)
Hi Sarah, Great to read your blog and learn about your trip. You are truly an adventurous young lady. Have fun and think of us in suburbia living the rat race. Try not to be listen to those cute mountain men :) Missy (your mom's friend)