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| Towering Mt. Ngauruhoe, one of 3 active volcanos in Tongariro National Park |
| Erin's Journal 01-14-03 & 01-15-03 New Zealand Today was mostly a driving day. We were headed about halfway up the north island to Turangi, near the Tongariro National Park. We'd prebooked a spot at the Extreme Backpacker hostel in Turangi (finally starting to think ahead!), and took off after a couple of short scenic routes for more views of Wellington. We took turns with the driving, as it's only fair, with Glenn taking the first leg and me taking the after-lunch shift. We'd stopped under a railway underpass along the highway for lunch, and were pleased to find that the weather was clearing up. It was still windy and pretty cold out, but the sun was shining and that's all we needed! We arrived in Tongariro National Park in the late afternoon, and checked out the Visitor's Center for more details on the hike we intended to take the next day. The Tongariro Crossing is the most famous day hike in the north island, and it ascends to points along 3 separate active volcanos. Today the weather was overcast on the mountain, with high winds and freezing levels at 1200 meters. The hike would take us to about 1850 meters, well into the snowline, and with the wind it looked to be miserable. With that in mind as well as our state of being out of shape, we decided not to attempt this hike and picked a couple of shorter ones further down in the foothills instead. Then we continued on to Turangi, about an hour away. We arrived at the hostel at 5pm, and they told us to hustle over to the grocery store as it would close at 6pm - and nothing else in town would be open after that!!! Amazing! So we ran over and got stuff for dinner, then settled into our room. It was nicely decorated and clean, and I was happy enough. The kitchen, when I went there, was clean and nice but CROWDED! So I struggled to get a burner for myself, then managed to cook something up. As we ate, Glenn and I made small talk with an English couple at our table. Turns out they'd been trying to get a good weather day to go up and do the Tongariro Crossing for the past week! But they'd be in New Zealand for about a year, and had the time to wait. The weather prediction for tomorrow would be promising, but they'd decided to go the next day and spend tomorrow in Taupo. After dinner we relaxed with our books, and retired early. I'm getting tired much earlier these days! Glenn thinks he's wearing me out...I doubt it! Maybe I'm finally learning the benefits of sleeping earlier - it is easier to get out of bed the next day! 01-15-03 New Zealand We woke up and got ready pretty quickly today, knowing we'd be driving for about an hour to get to the Tongariro National Park where all the excellent hiking was. We had decided not to try the all-day, 17 km Tongariro Crossing, as it looked a little overwhelming for someone as wimpy and out of shape as I am after riding around in cars for the past 2 months, but we did agree to do a couple of the shorter area hikes, to a couple of waterfalls in the area. The day was gorgeous, clear and sunny, with still a cold breeze out at the national park. This was a good thing though, as we'd dressed warmly and needed the breeze to cool us once we heated up with the walk. Our first walk started near the Visitor Center, so we checked the weather forecast and felt sorry for the couple back at our hostel that was waiting for the next day to do the Crossing. The freezing level was still listed at 1500 meters (the hike goes up to about 1850 meters, so you get cold even on a sunny day!), but there was less wind and warm sunshine, as well as almost cloudless skies! The next day was predicted to be even better though, so perhaps they'd get lucky. We certainly felt good about picking today to hike there! The trek out to the first waterfall was listed at 2 hours return, and we stretched that into 3 by taking a nap at the falls after a 50 minute trek! It was pretty and not a bad walk, but I was still peeling my jacket off by the time we were on the way back. We stopped in the car park for the Tawhai Falls to eat lunch, enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze, then did the much shorter 20-minute return walk to this second waterfall. This one was pretty too, but we got to stretch out on some rocks at the bottom of the falls and bask in the sun and spray, so once again we stretched 20 minutes into almost an hour of reading and relaxing before heading back to the car. Glenn was thinking of doing another hike, but it was almost 4pm by now, and we had another hour back to Turangi. We had agreed to go up to Lake Taupo the next day to do a kayaking trip on the lake, and needed to get to town to call and book it and a stay at a hostel there. So we took off and made it to town before 5, where we made our calls, as well as booking a hostel and blackwater rafting trips for the weekend ahead. Then we stopped off for some Smirnoff Ice to sip this evening and went to the hostel to cook dinner. The kitchen got crowded the instant I got my water boiling, so I struggled to hold my one burner against all comers and eventually got our pasta cooked. We ate with the same British couple as the night before, telling them what a great day at the mountain it had been. They will do the Crossing tomorrow for sure! After dinner, the lady took off to see Friends on tv in the next room, and I followed, then managed to slip in the hostel's copy of Lord of the Rings when Friends was over and everyone cleared out. Suddenly the room packed out, as everyone who wandered by and took a peak at the tv came in to see if they could recognize scenery in the movie from the gorgeous places we've all been travelling through! When Glenn came to let me know he was going back to the room, he was shocked to see almost 25 people in the dark with me, watching Gandalf fall into the chasm with the demon Balroc! When the movie was over, I quickly ran off and joined Glenn in bed, for an early night. |
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| Glenn relaxes in front of the gorgeous Tawhai waterfall we visited in the afternoon |