Day 240 & 241/ 240. a 241. Den (27. & 28. 09. 2008)

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" Due South" .... finally

however just before I will cross over I wanted to have go at the Tongariro crossing.
I managed to miss the free camp ground around Tongariro, so I have just found spot off the main road, it was horrible weather, so cold , foggy and wet, all I hoped was that as it rains so much, next day will be clear day. You ask and you shall receive.... In the morning the sky was so blue, and even that it was really cold, the view of mountain's peaks covered in snow made it all worth it.

I have arrived to the beginning of the walk as it started to snow, and the wind was so strong, but I was determined to have a go...
It was a hard walk, but definitely worth it, even though I could do only 3 hours one way and then turn back. I almost had to stop at one point as it was really icy, if not for the tourist who had lost his crampon, hence the guide had to make some steps with ice axe, I could not go much further, but I have made it all the way to the Emerald lakes. On the way back I used my jacket as a sledge and went down the same hill i had used the made up steps on . Also as I am going senile I forgot to bring water with me, so I drank from the stream only learn later that the water is polluted with bugs and it was not drinkable, oh well I am still here... I am a tough cookie.

After the "walk" I headed toward Wellington as the next day had booked the ferry to Picton (South Island)... I found a nice campground only an hour away from Wellington, and again it was free one. I do refuse to pay for camping as I have Alfred, all I need is somewhere I can park. On the way down I gave a lift to my first hitch hiker - well he was local Maori guy... it was rather interesting chat... started with how safe NZ is and ended up who got killed while giving lifts... he did all the talking...I asked him if he was trying to scare me... lol

Next day I made it to Wellington in plenty of time...I have come to realise I had muscles I had no idea about, and the Tongariro walk was harder than I thought...my ass and thighs where the most affected


Smer Jih".... hura

... ale nejdrive jsem chtela jit na turu pres Tongariro narodni park...
Podarilo se me minout taboriste, takze jsem prespala kousek od hlavni cesty, protoze pocasi bylo hnusne, mlha, prselo a byla zima, tak se me nic vice nechtelo hledat. Pouze jsem doufala, ze rano bude pekny den. Me prani bylo vyslyseno... rano byla krasne modra obloha, bylo docela cerstvo, ale za to vyhled na zasnezene hory byl nadherny.

Kdyz jsem dorazila na zacatek tury tak akorat zacalo snezit a foukal dost silny vitr, ale ja jsem byla rozhodnuta ze pujdu 'slapat'... turu...
Byla to docela zabiracka, ale stalo to za to. i presto ze jsem mohla pouze na 3 hodinky jednym smerem a pak zpatky. Malem jsem musela turu ukoncit, bylo docela dost snehu a ledovy povrch nebyl dvakrat bezpecny. Nastesti jeden turista ztratil stupacky, takze pruvodkyne musela vysekat schody... coz me velmi bodlo. Dosla jsem az k Emarald jezirkum. Cestou zpatky jsem pouzila bundu jako boby, a nemusela jsem pouzit schodky.... Protoze starnu a zapominam, tak jsem si nevzala vodu, a napila se z ricky, jen pozdeji jsem zjistila, ze ricka je nepitna, jsou v ni nejaci bacili, no co ja jsem porad na zivu.. nic me nebacilo...mam tuhy korinek.

Po "prochazce" jsem jela smerem k Wellingtonu, mela jsem zamluveny trajekt na druhy den do Pictonu ( Jizni Ostrov)... Nasla jsem skvele taboriste, pouze hodinu od Wellingtonu a zase zadara... Odmitam platit za parkovaci misto, protoze to je vse co Ja a Alfred potrebujeme, pouze nekde zaparkovat na noc. Cestou jsem svezla prvniho stopare - byl to mistni typek, meli jsme docela zajimavou diskuzi... zacalo to bezpecim na Novem Zelande a koncilo to vrazdami turistu... zeptala jsem se ho zda se me snazi postrasit...:o)

Na druhy den jsem dorazila do Wellingtonu... taky jsem prisla na to, ze mam svaly o kterych jsem nemela potuchu, prochazka byla tezsi nez se na poprve zdalo... muj zadecek :o) a stehna.. au au

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