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Published: December 6th 2009
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So, from Rotorua we headed on to the city of Hamilton for a couple of days. We weren't overly impressed with the city itself, but the one thing that
really amazed me was the city gardens. I had no idea how much one could learn from a garden! There is just so much history and meaning behind each garden. The city did a tremendous job of re-creating a variety of gardens from all different cultures. We roamed throught the gardens for a good three hours (including a picnic lunch) before we decided that we had seen enough and were ready to move on.
From Hamilton, we headed back to Tauranga on yet another hunt for work. This one, however, proved successful (though given the type of work we found, I don't know that I would really stress the
success part. I can't bring myself to say exactly what it is that I'm doing right now, but I will say that it is on an assembly-line, for 12 hours a day, and I now have a much greater appreciation for what my food goes through before it ends up on my plate. Enough said.
Actually, we only ended up getting
two full shifts of work in before being told that due to the bad weather being forcast, we would not be needed at work the rest of the week... ugh - I had just accepted the fact that I would be doing this for a while! So, since our time on the North Island is limited, we jumbled up our plans a little bit and decided to head out on another road trip. This one for a place called Taupo and Tongariro National Park.
Taupo was the type of place that was very activity-oriented, but most of those activities cost a good chunk of money (and given that we had only actually managed to get in two days of work...) so we only stuck around there long enough to take a visit to Huka Falls. More rapids than actual falls, they were still quite neat - the water was a beautiful bright blue and so inviting to jump in. I thought it might even be a neat idea to hop in a Zorb and make my way over the falls. That said, however, there was no Zorb nearby so I had to settle for taking a few pictures before
moving on.
From Taupo we made our way to Tongariro National Park where we decided to take part on one of New Zealands 'Great Walks' (challenging, multi-day hikes). I would have to say that after day 1 I couldn't quite say what was so great about it. Despite the weather being forecast as being beautiful and sunny, we spent the entire first day scaling numerous mountains (actual mountains, not the Ski Martocks of Nova Scotia) in heavy rain and thick fog. We couldn't even see 15 feet in front of us, let alone all of the amazing scenery the walk promised to offer! Regardless, we stuck it out and managed to make it to one of the backcountry huts for the night. The next morning we awoke to (somewhat) clearer skies, which made our second day of hiking much easier and more interesting. The views were quite incredible, and I came to realize why this is considered one of the best hikes of New Zealand. The summit of one of the volcanoes (Ngauruhoe) - which we did not even realize was there the day before - was beautiful and snow-capped. No wonder it was used for 'Mount Doom' in
the Lord of the Rings. We also got to see some crazy landscape changes: from desert, to crater (one known as 'Red Crater' due to it's red colour left over from a volcanic eruption), to beautiful lakes, snow, and even rainforest as we descended back down to the parking lot.
The total hike for us was 30 km with close to 2000 m in elevation changes (and don't forget this was with a 40 lb pack of supplies on our backs). When New Zealanders say a hike is going to be 'challenging' they are not kidding around! There were times when I would be looking straight down to both the left and the right ... one mis-step could have resulted in a very nasty fall. Fortunately though, we both made it out safely with only a few sore muscles, blisters and bruises. Needless to say, I slept very well that night.
So, back we are in Tauranga - awaiting a call from our employers telling us (hopefully) that they will be ready to have us back into work tomorrow.
Oh, I did forget to mention that we made sure to make it back here yesterday in time
for the Mount Manganui Christmas Parade and Festival. It was kind of hard to get my head around the fact that Santa was coming down the Palm tree-lined street with the sun shining brightly and the temperature pushing 25 degrees. That poor man - his face was so red from being there in that heavy santa suit, I thought he might faint right there in front of all of the children!
I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas Season back at home - I will say that I miss hearing the Rita MacNeil Christmas Soundtrack - Christmas certainly isn't the same when it's warm and sunny (and you're working at a factory twelve hours a day!)
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Amanda
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You should have stolen a little of that snow for Santa! I heard "Let the Bells Ring" today and thought of you. That garden pic is crazy pretty- straight out of a magazine. Stay safe! Happy Holidays