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Published: February 17th 2011
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Today is the day I get to talk about the Tongariro Crossing and Black Water Rafting!
The crossing is basically a walk through the Tongariro National Park where you can find the ever famous Mt Doom and even Mordor. Only difference is that they were covered with snow and the orcs had probably migrated north for the summer.
It was a horrible 5.30am start but there was no time to complain before we were on a coach headed for our destination. To save on time we were kitted out with warm clothes, boots and cramp-ons on the coach. Annoyingly the fleece and trousers were extra super large and made me look like a black yeti.
After an hour or so we made a brief stop to check out the Lord of the Rings scenery that we would be walking between, oh and I have just seen in my diary notes that Mt Doom is really called Mount Ngauruhoe in case you wanted to know.
Soon we pressed on, eventually reaching the start to our walk which consisted of a small car park and three toilets for that all important emptying before the epic trek. We begin by climbing the 'devils
staircase', a long trail that winds its way up a snow covered hill. The view across the national park was stunning with snow, grassland and crystal clear streams as far as I could see. I could also just about make out where we had started and I was quite impressed how far we had got already! We continued across the vast, snowy flat that took us past Mount Ngauruhoe which apparently you can climb in the summer when there is no snow. At the end of the flat was another steep slope in our way and at this point we had to apply the cramp-ons in order to safely scale the icy path without simply sliding back to the bottom.
We climbed and climbed, venturing higher up the mountain side and it started getting pretty hard. Being the middle of winter, there was a strong wind, very cold temperatures and visibility was quite minimal. But we were determined to reach the highest point we could and so we pressed on. The landscape was just incredible but quite daunting. Man has reached out into the four corners of the world, populating it with over six billion people and yet there are
still places like this where you really get a sense of our insignificance. I know it's quite a cliché talking about the insignificance of man but as I looked around it was amazing to see how small we are and how grand the natural world can be.
Soon we were standing on the highest point we could possibly reach in winter and it felt good. Nearby, the snow had given way to a deep red coloured rock face and it was then that I remembered we were standing on volcanically active land. Even more amazing was when we stopped for some lunch and the ground we were sat on was warm. The kind of warmth you might feel in a radiator in as good old British winter.
I could go on and on about this trip but instead I will let the photos do the rest and move on to our incredible black water rafting experience.
Rafting .. but in an inner tube So it was Friday 13th and we would be spending the majority of the day underground in dark, water filled caves... Slightly apprehensive, but unphased, we got on a bus which would take us to
the Black Water Rafting HQ. There we were kitted out with full on, hugely thick wetsuits, wellies and a helmet. Oh and we were grouped with yet another Jess who is also from Surrey! Once we had arrived at the entrance to the caves we had a quick session in abseiling techniques before beginning. This abseiling was key considering the very first thing we did was to lower ourselves down a huge hole in the dark.
Once in the cave, the only light was coming from our head torches and there were no artificial paths to follow. We manoeuvred our way through the cave eventually to end up at a ledge where we zip lined down to the next area where inflated, black inner tubes awaited us. We were given a cup of hot chocolate, probably to get our bodies nice and warm before we were told to stand up, hold our inner tubes to our bums and jump of a ledge into a dark river. I opted to go first and man what a rush! It may have only been a 2/3m drop but because I had to place my trust in our guide that I would not get
hurt it was that much more of an adrenaline rush.
Once we were all safely in the water, we turned off our head torches and floated down the river together. This was where it got really good as the ceiling of the cave was covered in glow worms. It was absolutely stunning, the same kind of beauty that you get from stars on a pitck black, cloudless night. However, we were then told the truth about the glow worms. In fact, they are not worms at all, but maggots. 'Carnivorous, cannibalistic shagging maggots with shiny s**t' to use our guides exact words. Nice huh.
We floated further through the cave until the water lowered and we could stand up and walk. Only then to be told that we would be jumping off a small waterfall, which was actually a wicked experience. We continued on, eventually to take a diversion from our set route and sneak onto the cave walk track to go and see the huge stalagmite and stalactite formations. At that point I remember seeing them on Planet Earth and thinking to myself that they were incredible but I would never get to see them in real life. And
yet, there I was! Next up was a climb through some tiny gaps and plenty of stumbling over rocks under the water. We made a second stop soon after for some hot orange squash and chocolate to keep warm before we headed towards the exit. Again, there was no commercially built path and to get out of the cave we had to climb up two waterfalls and through a hole to the surface.
This was one of my favourite memories from the whole of my travels and would recommend it to any traveler who is heading out to New Zealand and is looking for some adventure. Next stop Rotorua.
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