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Published: April 14th 2007
3 Peaks
Red Crater, Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) and Mt Ruapehu in the distance How do, ton of stuff to talk about here so if there's a bit too much yabbering on, I apologise. Cos I'm now in the North Island, I'll just summerise the last part of the South. Christchurch = had a sherbets and bumped into a Barnsley lad, funny hearing thee and thas! Kaikoura = Rented a moped and managed to get up all of 55kmph, not quite Stu speed in his Mini up Harbour Hill (sorry lad had to get it in) Picton = Ferry to Wellington, 4 hours, had a beer and eat a ham sarnie, good stuff
Reight onto the North Island, I only stayed in Wellybob 1 night so not that much to talk about apart from having a few tins around town, managed to see the Irish lads I stayed with in Queenstown which made for a good crack.
Next up was Napier where I stayed in an backpackers that used to be a prison. The door to the room was made of heavy duty steel so no chance of burglers getting in a least. Also, it had this industrial sized padlock just in case the door didn't deter them. Again, I only stayed
a night so went down to the local spa pool and put mi feet up for some relaxation.
I rocked into Taupo the next day and thought I'd dabble with the old bungy again. This was over a river so you had the option of been dunked. Cos it was a hot day and I had a bit of a dab on from the walk up I told them to dunk me waist height. Unfortunately they misjudged the rope length and I was cursing my luck as I sprang about 6 feet above the water. Probably for the best in the end cos when I got onto the dingy at the bottom, I saw a scuber diver in the landing zone!
5am the next morning and I roll out of bed to catch the bus for the Tongariro crossing which is regarded as the best 1 day walk in New Zealand. It's 18.5km across the Tongariro National Park with another 2km side-walk up Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings) for the brave....or foolish! The first part was a piece of piss, an hours walk across the plains to the Devils Staircase which wasn't so easy.
Mt Doom
Where is that little shit Frodo, that ring aint gonna destroy itself! It took a good 45mins to get up there as it's more or less a vertical climb up the rocks. From the top you can choose to head up Mt Doom or carry on the track. Feeling up to the job, me and a few of the boys decided to tackle it head on. Reaching the top is no mean feat, it nearly killed me, a lot of the ascent is on shingle so your always slipping back down as you struggle up. Makes running the half marathon look a doddle cos I felt like Gandes flip-flop the whole way up. Still the views from the top were stunning, your way above the clouds and you can see all the mountain tops around you. I tried ringing the mother at the top but the phone was engaged, should have known really, can't get her off the chuffing thing! I ended ringing our young un, "Eyup lad, am ringing thi from top a' Mount Doom, tha noo-as off Lord ut'Rings". After having some snap and Powerade I made my descent which involved surfing down the mountain side on my heels and sometimes on my shitter. After a precarious descent which took
Mt Doom Conquered
What's all the fuss about, just like climbing Cumby Hill back home! no more than 15 mins, I examined the remains of my trainers and they looked like a dog had been at them for an hour. From there I re-joined the track and headed across the South Crater towards the Red Crater Ridge. This climb wasn't half as bad as the Devils Staircase so I raced up like Roadrunner on Redbull. At the top, your reach the Red Crater itself which looks like it's been transported from Mars. After a shifty descent I reached the Emerland Lakes which stink of Egg, couldn't see our Les anywhere though so I reckoned it must have been the Sulphur. After a cheeky sarnie, I headed across the Central Crater and through to the Blue Lake where you can see all 3 mountain peaks in a row with Mt Ruapehu the highest in the distance. The Lake has a fantastic blue colour (hence the name) but I was stopped mid-dive in my budgie smugglers by concerned onlookers cos they had cottoned on that this lake was Sulperous as well. I took their word for it and headed through the Rotopaunga Valley to the next hut on the track where I filled up on some much
Red Crator
It's red....and a crator.... needed water and indulged in another chicken sarnie. After a brief stop, the track down to the carpark was another few Km's down the valley and through a forest where I reached the end a proud Yorkshireman. Total time = 7.5 hours
After my exploits in Taupo, Rotorua was next on the agenda and as soon as you arrive you can smell eggs there cos of the geo-thermal activity in the area. That day me and few mates got on the bus to the edge of town to try some zorbing which involves getting into a massive, cushioned ball full of water and rolling down a hill. Me and couple of the girls did a 3 person zorb and being typical lasses, they couldn't stop giggling the whole way down. The next time, I got my own zorb and went on the zig-zag course which made sure I was thrown around the ball a lot more. Barnsley ought to get into this, "Pit Zorbing" where you get in the zorb at the top of the mine conveyer belt and roll to the bottom, it's a sure fire winner! Still dizzy from this, we took the bus over to the
Emerald Lakes
Either that smell is coming from the lakes or someones dropped a sprout bomb Johnny Fartpants would be proud off! Luging which was a lot better than the one in Queenstown. The tracks are a lot longer and on the advanced circuit, you reach some break-neck speeds where you're wresting the cart to stay on 4 wheels.
The next day, I headed through to Raftabout to tackle some Whitewater Rafting on the Kaituna River which has the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world at 7m. The majority of the course wasn't so bad and I took to it like a duck to water. When you reach the big one, you basically have to get into the brace position and hold on for dear life. Luckily we all made it through to the bottom so a few, "ave it's" could be heard, mostly from my trap! After that it was pretty much plain sailing to the end with a bit of rapid surfing thrown in for good measure (paddling back into the rapid and letting the water flood the raft = gob full of water)
Feeling a bit peckish from the day, I attended a Maori night at the Mitai Village nearby. As part of the deal, you get some top notch food (hangi) and watch them perform
Blue Lake
Sulphurous they tell me their wardances and such like. The food itself is cooked in traditional fashion over burning coals so it tasted soo-poyb as Fat Toni would say. During the concert, the Maori cheif adressed our appointed cheif and they exchanged introductions by touching noses like eskimos. After that, the whole tribe, danced around and at the end perfomed the Haka. The most interesting bit was after this when the cheif talked about the weapons the used to used back in t'day and got a few of the others to show their moves. Not much good against European guns though back in the conflict days. At the very end, we took a stroll around the forest to see the glow-worms which are basically moth larvi that glow bright blue at night. It looks pretty sweet if you can 10 seconds of darkness without some youth shinning his torch straight at them.
After spending a quick night in Auckland, I headed over to the Coromandal Penninsula to chill out for a few days in Whitianga. On the way there we stopped off at Hot Water Beach where you can dig a hole in the sand and create your own spa pool. I stuck
White Water Rafting
About to head over the big un my toe into a pool already there and nearly burnt it feet clean off. It was like sticking it into a pot of tea! I reckon you cook an egg in there no problem. Afterwards we headed for Cathedral Cove which is a secluded bay down the road. The place is named after the big cave there which separates the 2 beaches. Although I didn't spend much time there, it's a class place where I'd happily spend a day doing sweet FA.
After a couple of days kicking back there, I headed back for Auckland and spent another night. Next morning I was on the coach to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. We didn't get there till about half 5 that evening so the first day was pretty much non-existant. The next day, I was up bright an early for a day-trip to Cape Reigna which is the Northern most point of New Zealand. On the way through you drive on 90-mile beach which is actually 64.5miles.....right.....Anyway a few K's driving we reached the big sand-dunes where the bus pulled up and we got our bodyboards for a spot of sand-boarding. The sand on the dunes was flying
all the place cos of the wind so I squinting the whole way up. At the top, I layed on the board and went down head first like a rocket. The guide reckons you can get upto 60kmph if you don't brake so I gave it go. About half way down my body-position went too far forward and I went grid first into the sand like a plonker with my board flying off in the distance been carried further and further in the howling gale. I found it a few hundred metres away in the river at the bottom of the dune! After that, we drove though the the cape itself and walked down to the lighthouse and took the usual tourist shots. On the way back to Paihia, we called in at the local "fush and chups" shop and I felt like I was back in blightly. The fish was fresh though, not like the usual week old tat they serve back home.
I've a day left here then back over to Auckland for one more night. After that, it's Fiji time.....
Si thi
JP
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Mama
non-member comment
Less o the cheek lad
Hi John sorry for being on the phone when you reach top of Mt doom would've been your Nan, must be in the genes. Great blog and fantastic photos, bought any new trainers eh! Hope your knee is holding up with all that walking , still got to see all these places while you're there, sort your knee out when you get home. Good to talk to you last night lad was getting anxious needed to hear from you. Anyway enjoy Figi should be a bit more relaxing for you. Looking forward to you coming home now, missing you take care love mum XXX