Tongariro National Park & Auckland

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We arrived in the pitch black darkness to the Discovery Lodge hostel in the Tongariro National Park. In the morning we drove to Whakapapa and "tramped" (the Kiwi word for trekking/rambling) along the Taranaki Falls route. With fantastic early morning views of the volcanoes and a beautiful waterfall it was well worth the trip. We had planned on doing the Tongariro Crossing but due to the eruption of ash which took place a few months ago, the crossing was still closed off to the public.



Refreshed from our tramp we undertook the long drive up to Auckland to drop the campervan back. We absolutely loved the freedom the campervan gave us and were quite sad to give it back. We got the shuttle bus into Auckland and, after dropping off our bags at Base backpackers, set off to explore the City. A peaceful walk along the waterfront and two flat whites later, we were both buzzing with excitement and decided to visit the SkyTower. The viewing platform being at 220 metres shouldn't have posed a problem for Dan since the skydive but he felt quite nauseous. This was probably due to the lift having a glass bottom and people bungee jumping off the tower in front of us, utterly petrifying. We were both brave enough to walk along the glass floor on the outskirts of the viewing platform!



We headed to a fantastic bar in the evening called Cassette Nine to meet up with my friend Chris who I haven't seen for over nine years! We had a fantastic evening chatting and catching up! I got slightly carried away with the red wine, consuming five glasses! We went back to the hostel at 10pm, as we had to be up for the shuttle bus to the airport at 2am. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any sleep, I can only blame the wine... I now know that setting off for a 26 hour journey with no sleep and a hangover is not advisable, take note. I ended up being awake for over 40 hours, I did however redo my make up three times to maintain a fresh faced appearance. In my hungover desperation at the airport in New Zealand I went to McDonalds for pancakes and thank goodness I did, as Qantas didn't have me down as a veggie and my plane food was somewhat limited to salads and bread rolls!



Kayleigh



Xx

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