Taupo

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7.12.11

Up early this morning to check the weather to see if the Tongariro crossing was going ahead. Its a 8 hour hike up and over Mount Doom and through Lord of the Rings scenery. Said to be one of the best walks to do in New Zealand. We phoned the company that was organising the hike and they said that it was raining and it was upto us whether we did it or not. Me and Sophie decided to go back to bed, which was the right choice as the people who went got soaked through and said it was freezing cold and couldn't see a thing. Instead we decided to walk to a local hot spring which ran into the river. We took our packed lunch and our swimming gear and headed down. The hot springs were to hot to go in but if you sat in the river where the two met the temperature was just right. We chilled out there for most of the day and then walked back in the rain. I took the rain jackets out the bag as it was sunny when we left, so Sophie wasn't best pleased!

In the evening Verity's friend invited us on his speed boat around lake Taupo. The sun had come back out and we went speeding round the crystal clear water to see some old Maori carvings in the rocks and in the cliffs. We watched the sun set then went back to hostel for beans on toast. M x

8.12.11

We headed into the Tongariro national park for a 2 hour walk around familiar sites from the lord of the rings films. We could see Mount Doom, Moredore and the waterfall from the 2nd film where they meet gollom bashing a fish. The park has 3 volcanoes in it, 2 of them still active. We carried on driving to get to our new destination - River Valley. It was a lodge in the middle of knowhere and funnily enough in a valley of a river. When picking our dorm for the night we decided to go for the cheaper option, only when we paid for it we heard that it was called the orgy room! You could see why, as it was a 32 bed room with a row of 16 matresses as the bottom bunk and 16 matresses in a row as the top bunk. We settled into the orgy room and then went for a walk around the grounds. Really nice lovely gardens with a clear river running next to the lodge, towering cliffs and close to silence. In the night we sat at the bar and had a game of enormous Jenga, Sophie won. We then went to bed with ear plugs in!! M x

9.12.11

Me and Sophie went for a morning walk down the river along an overgrown track. We even had to use a rope to get down a steep bit in the track. We got to the end of the track but decided to carry on going jumping from rock to rock along the side of the river. We came to a water fall and a calm bit in the river. We played skimming stones and my record was 17 which beat Sophie by 15. As it was so hot and the water was so clear I couldn't resist going for a swim. The water was freezing and took your breath away but was very refreshing. Got back to the lodge were we played volley ball, football and rugby. Loaded up the coach and headed for Wellington. Wellington was a lovely city. We arrived at tea time and as we where staying only one night we went for a walk. It had a lively atmosphere but as we where up at 6.30 to catch the ferry we had a early night. M x

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