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Published: April 4th 2007
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The drive down, took us through Rotorua - man what a whiff - thought it was Jen for a minute then the true power of the rotten egg smelling sulphur hit! Should have shut the vents! The geysers, hot springs and mud pools gave off such a stink we decided eating there was not an option and instead headed to Taupo. The weather began to clear there and the drive out to the coast was beautiful - if a little wiggly! Bryan had previously told us that people from the area were known as Children of the Mist and this became all the more evident as we drove through the gorges shrouded in swirling cloud - making for spectacular views and eery driving!
Arrival at Napier saw dinner time and a drive by gave us the opportunity to appreciate how truly art deco the town was. Camping on the sea front meant a delightful sunrise was to be seen and an unappreciated early morning in store for Jen! Another wonder around town for the odd photo and we were off again - having debated the possibility of a cycling wine tour and decided it may have been a little
unwise with driving to do!
Next stop was Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu - trying saying that without taking a breath! This is the longest place name in the world and they have a special sign so that saddos like Jen and I can say we have been there! That done we found ourselves essentially in the middle of nowhere with a long drive down the coast. But with some exceptionally cheesy music, the windows down and some oh-so exciting dried fruit we put up with it!!! Allowing us to get to Rivendell for photos in the evening sun - which Jen really likes (I am certain of this fact as EVERYtime we get a bit of evening sun in photos it is exclaimed with much artistic passion - ah bless!!) From there it was onto Wellington - via a few other LOTR hotspots - yawn!!! Where, having been given 'challenges' from boys back home I was forced to take one for the team and reenact various scenes as Gimli - the dwarf!!! Relating to Rrrrraaazzor Sharrrrrp Rrrrrroocks! Tom/ Dan you will be impressed!
First impressions of Wellington were that it was a nice city with a nice
feel....that opinion lasted for about 30 minutes! After this time I had discovered that it sat on a fault line, had small earthquakes on a weekly basis and was also at risk of a tsunami! I mean why oh why would you live in a place like that?! Its not as if the threat is low or the liklihood of disaster small.........strange individuals! However the museum there rocked! Well not in the literal sense.....atleast not while i was there! It was really interesting and very informative about NZ's natural history and geological foundations. We ended up spending the entire day there and still didn't see all of it. There were also fascinating insights into Mauri culture and history which got a bit much for the end of the day - yet another reason to JUST have to come back! Sorry Dad!
We were forced to leave the museum before the sunset as Jen had yet another burning desire to see another LOTR site! I still to this day don't get it entirely - particularly after going to this one - they look NOTHING like the film!!!!!! There I was made to reenact a scene - this time as Frodo
- I am, you know, a girl of many talents! Although you may want to judge that one for yourselves if we ever get videos to work on this site!
For some reason, which Jen and I can't quite understand, upon the morning's arrival we left Wellington. We should really have spent another day or two there but we were off! From there it was northwards to Palmerston North - home to a gargantuan windfarm! They dotted the skyline off to the east and were a must visit for me! That done we headed for Turangi, having heard that the forecast for the next day was good, we were hoping to walk the walk and do the Tongariro crossing - named as one of the best Day Walks in the World!
Phewee......what a walk! It makes my knees tremble and my head spin just thinking about it!!! It is recommended that you allow 7-8 hours for the walk - Jen and I did it in 6 1/4 - in fact we probably walked for less than that as we had a stopover for lunch! The walk was awesome and quite unlike anything we had seen anywhere else in
the world. We were walking over a Volcano!!!! (Mount Doom to those in the know!!) This meant that the scenery went from solidified magma, to vast expanses of nothingness to smouldering geysers and rocks. It was surreal, knowing that somewhere beneath us, and probably not all that far away, molten rock was building up! Drama queen or what!!! The climb itself was quite interesting with a flat lead up to the base, followed by one of the most hellish climbs ever, through truly razor sharp rocks VERTICALLY, aptly named the Devil's staircase! At the top we had reached the saddle with a flat walk across the South Crater before yet another seemingly vertical climb on gravel and shale which meant that you took 1 step forward and 2 back! JOY!!! From the summit we had some amazing views and got a good look at the Red Crater (Original name!), the Emerald Lakes and the Northern Crater. Immense stuff - awesome in fact AND Jen got her photo in with Mount Doom who took the opportunity to peek out of the clouds at us - only for a photo though - no acting opportunities to be had - lucky really as
the latest challenge was that Jen should bite my finger off in Frodo and Gollum fashion (Thanks Dan but I value my digits quite a bit!!!) We had been led to believe that that was the end of our upwards travels and the rest was downhill! WRONG! There was one more ascent up to the ridge next to the Blue Lake and then we were free!!!! Well, except for the 4 hour downhill trek which was actually harder on the knees and muscles than the up!!! We managed that in just 2 hours though and we soon home free and back in Predator. Albeit in dire need of a shower and rather wishfully hoping for a Thai massage! Fortunately Turangi had a rather ace campsite that had free use of Natural Hot Spring Spa & Mineral Pools (one of our remaining to-do's!) which killed 2 birds with one stone! Relaxing the oh-so-sore muscles and getting us clean! (although the photos demonstrate that they didn't appear to be the cleanest of pools!) It was also decided that our efforts required rewarding in true traveller style - with a STEAK!!! MMmmmmmmmmMM!!!!
Next stop was Taupo where we had decided to throw
ourselves out of a plane!
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