Into the fiery land of Mordor...

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone's holiday was wonderful and spent with good people.

I spent it with very good people, all doing the 18K Tongariro Crossing. It's known as NZ's best one day hike, with varied terrain and beauty at every turn. All in all, Cait and I did it in 6 hours (not bad for Americans).

We started off at 5:40 in the morning when a shuttle would pick us up from our hostel. We were real popular in the dorm that morning. There were about 10 of us waiting for about 20 minutes, until we called our service wondering where in blazes our bus was. The secretary told us they had already been by our hostel! Fortunately they came back to pick us up.

We got on the bus where we had made quite a few more friends after making them turn around to fetch us. Driving an hour down to Tongariro National Park, the bus driver got a call from the shuttle company that an earlier bus had broken down on the side of the road. We picked up about 20 extra hikers on our already full bus. We didn't make it another mile before we started to drift off the road with our large load and small windy NZ streets!

We promptly dropped the hikers we had just picked up off again on the side of the road, and finally made it to the trailhead. Bad things happen in 3's, so all of us were wondering what could possibly happen next. Some rainclouds had been forecast for the afternoon so we didn't dally at the start.

The first bit of the trail is very flat and easy. The starting point is high up. Combined with a low fog line, you get a real uneasy feeling about the day, but we pressed on anyway.

Next came the hardest part: Devil's Staircase. Our guide told us the fastest that anyone had ever done this scramble over volcanic rock and sand was 15 minutes. I estimate it took us about 45. I earned a lolly from a stranger on this point when I discovered his dropped camera. Good thing I can shout pretty loudly... he heard me ask if anyone had dropped a camera and was so happy that he climbed all the way down to where I'd found.

The next couple hours were wonderful rewards for the Staircase. We pass by Red Crater, Emerald Lake, Blue Crater and other gems. we reached elevations of 1886 meters and saw snowcaps, brilliant blue lakes, sulphuic rocks and a view of the conical Mt Taranaki. It is quite windy as it the passing between Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom).

Finally we started our descent down to the Ketetahi Hut, a Department of Conservation permanent shelter for hikers and backpackers to stay at. We just ate lunch there, but it was nice to see one of these DOC huts up close. They are like cabins and many of them only require a small fee. Many include beds, water and sometimes stoves and the like. It makes so much sense, but it saddens me to think that this system might not work in the US. What do you think?

On the bus ride back we learned that after dropping us off, one of the shuttles had run into a rock! There it was! A trio of bus mishaps, a fine day hike and a happy Thanksgiving in Mordor.

Well Cait and I move on from Taupo down to Wellington tonight. It's the most southern point on the North Island. We'll spend a few days before Cait has to go down to Picton on the South Island to start work. I'm still not quite sure of my plan, but you'll be the first to know 😊Perhaps I will get down there and pick up a job at a vineyard.

love
meesh

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Photos

Emerald Lake
Right over the hill from Red Crater

Mt Ngauruhoe
Mt Doom

Caitlin Looks for a Bathroom
Meesh 4, Caitlin 2.5