I have to admit it, Erin last night was right. It is raining. Not that you are thinking to climb the volcano anyway, but really raining. The time that it costs to go from my little house to the bar was 25 seconds, but much to long to walk without a raincoat or umbrella. :(
After a briefing they decided to go nowhere. Because we were in the country of "The Lord of the Rings' they organized that we could see all the movies there on a big screen.
Something about it:

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English academic and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien.
These are probably the most quoted and famous J.R.R. Tolkiens lines:

"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

The film trilogy of the Lord of the Rings has had a massive impact on showing the world just how beautiful New Zealand's landscapes really are. And while most of the sets created specially for the movie have long been (deliberately) removed, the spectacular scenery remains and is well etched into the memories of many people.

But I had seen already the first one, so I decided to repair my travelling bag. I did buy a neadle and some yarn a few days ago so I started to repair the bag. It was a heavy job because the material was very stiff. But the yarn was strong enough to keep my travellingbag together. It took me about 3 hours for repairing and in that 3 hours there was only rain.... I missed part two of the movie, so i deceided to skip the third part too. With a few others we landed at the bar...

At 7 o'clock we had dinner together and it was still raining. After another few drinks at the bar we deceided to call it a day.

You can guess what the weather was like . . . . . . .

My joy at arriving in Turangi and seeing our lovely executive lodge at club habitat, suggests i'm to old (or to spoilt) to stay in hostels any more.
Due to the bemusing bus time tables it had essential taken me a day to travel 40km from Taupo to the other end of the lake, where I was meeting Neil for the weekend. Turangi is a bizarre place, with the feeling of it being a motorway service station, all empty round abouts and quiet roads. But it is a great stop to do the Tongoriro crossing from.

we got picked up at 6.20 on saturday morning by our shuttle bus and taken to the bottom of the track to start our 18km walk over the lava fields, craters and volcanoes. The shear number of people at the start made us set a fair pace in order to distance ourselves from the crowds. However the first really steep bit did that for us...

It was the most amazing place, almost lunar, we came upon crests then crators, up ridges to ground that steamed gently, down scree slopes to emerald green lakes and eventually over the saddle between the volcanoes and into the clouds.

We stopped for lunch on the decent, with views over Lake Taupo in the distance. In retrospect we would have done the peak of Tongoriro as well, as by the time we got down we had a two hour wait for our shuttle home.

our evening continued with a well earned trip to a natural spa pool, then fish and chips back in Turangi and a few beers. Perfect day xx

New Zealands best day-hike?

well, it's the only one i've done, but it's absolutely amazing! highly recommended! 18 k's, a good climb up, and way too much downhill in the end (about 3 hours only going down, hurts my toes, and knees!) but the view is amazing. absolutely stunning. and being up close to mount doom is just really cool :D and the emerald lakes is a sight i won't forget easily. the landscape is just amazing... best hike i've done in ages.

Then the hard part started. This is where the one hour of straight up came. Straight up, through lots and lots of big lava-rocks. but the rocks were really good, it was very nice to have something to hold on to, and i practically climbed up more than walked. Had to take lots of breaks, really glad it had been so long since my last attempt at kiling my lungs. and it just seemed to go on forever! so glad i had the amazing mount doom to look at every time i stopped to breathe.

When we finally made it to the top, a lot of us sat down to have a snack break. So needed! Of course it wasn't really the top, there was still a pretty steep uphill to go, but it seemed like a nice stroll compared to the climb we'd just had. Once there it seemed like this was the main lunch spot, right next to the sign that pointed in different directions, and told us that there was still 3 hours and 25 minutes to go. I didn't doubt it for a second, the signs were very accurate in their estimation of how long it would take us.

on our way to wellington we drove through the capital om gum-boot throwing. interesting.

OK, yes I know, I better spend some more time in the north Island but...This is the only track I did in N.Z North Island. I walk the Tongariro Northern Cicuit and the Round the Mountain Track as one track.

It's a very impressive walk, going in some great rocky environment, very unlike other places I visit in N.Z. I also had the fun of experience some of the great N.Z weather: the wind at the top of the ridge between the craters was so strong, almost knock me down! and two days later it's start to snow! absolutely magnificent! I almost cried at the last hut thinking it's my last night in the N.Z. backcountry! God, what a trip! seeing all these beautiful views, meeting all these great people, understanding that if ever there were a country I would like to live at for some time, New Zealand is this place. It was also a point for me to start thinking about home, making my way back to Israel, after a year away. The idea of going back made me sick! but thinking about my family made me better. That was not so easy for me, very emotional for me. How can one start summit a year, the best I had (will have some more soon!!!!!) and going back to orbit? god knows...few more beers, few more of the great N.Z. cookie and a promise to myself to come back and never stop travel. Been on the road is the only way for me, how can I do otherwise? so here I am, 9 months later,here in Chicago, going to move to London in few weeks and look for a job.

Keep on travel!

Hej Alle

Ja, vi har det fint! Igaar var jeg ude paa hike i Tongariro National Parken midt paa nord oeen. Det var en helt gads tur paa 7 timer og saa skyndte jeg mig ellers for mor og far skulle komme og hente mig. Min gaatur var mellem to vulcaner hvoraf den ene er Mt. Doom i LOTR. Det var meget fedt. Jeg gik turen sammen med to danske piger som sov paa det samme hostel som vi goer. Generelt sover vi paa backpacker steder og det gaar fint, bortset fra at far snorker.....

Mor og far to sa en anden tur igaar som varede 2-3 timer. Ellers har vi boet paa en strudsefarm i 2 dage, det syntes far var meget spaendende, selvom han jo ikke rigtigt kunne faa svar paa alle sine spoergsmaal, fordi han ikke kunne stille dem! Han blander stadig tysk og engelsk sammen konstant, saa der skal en meget god vilje til at forstaa ham som I ved.

Naa ma smutte

Louise

The Tongariro Crossing is an awesome day hike and probably one of the most popular in all of New Zealand. It takes anywhere between 6-9 hours depending on your ability and unless you train everyday prior...you will not be able to walk the day after the hike!!! The track covers all types of terrain and probably close to all 4 seasons too. I think we experienced warmth and sun, then rain, and snow flurries, and finally into a wet rain forest type climate. Be prepared by bringing both cold and warm weather clothing! You will hike past volcanoes and sulphuric pools and be completed amazed every few minutes of the track! You get picked up at a car park for about $20 NZD (roundtrip) and dropped off at the trailhead. Once you get to the finishing point there are shuttles that take you back to the car park every hour or so.

Bayview Chateau Tongariro Hotel is a very nice hotel. It was built in 1929 and it is still stunning. They have a drying room, a cinema, billiards, board games, tennis and there is even a golf course but I am not sure if the hotel runs it. The rooms were very nice, the bathroom was big and had a bath. The room has coffee/tea facilities. And the bed is nice and compfy. They also have a pool and suana. The pool though is in the basement and is sorta weird looking. But it is nice. The best part was the hot chocolate that I got from the restaurant. Even if you dont stay here go and get one. They are delich! They have a bus that comes for the Tongariro Crossing so that makes it nice and convenient. It is about 5-10 min drive from the ski area too.

Today we were all up early to get the group to the base of the volcano for the Tongariro Crossing; an 18.5km walk up, across and down the volcano, a walk that takes 6-8 hours through sun, rain and snow. I had decided to opt out of this walk on the basis that the excursions we have done have been so full on and perhaps I am started to accept that I am a bit more of a princess than I like to think after discovering how gruelling even tame-rated excursions are. I was told the first 2 km were virtually straight up and the challenge more a mental obstacle to overcome. I decided that it was too costly to kit myself out with all the necessary hiking kit and that I would probably regret starting the hike after 2 hours and still have 5 hours to contend with. So I waved goodbye to them all and returned to our super sexy alpine-style hostel, fitted out with dark wood, spa pool, chocolate sofas, cool music, great food and bar. In fact, I entertained myself most of the day by doing the most difficult jigsaw puzzle ever whilst periodically turning round to the stunning, panoramic, alpine vista of snow-capped mountains behind me, just to remind me, as I do frequently, that I am on the other side of the world in a country I always dreamed of visiting.

When they returned I was mildly annoyed that the walk was no where near as difficult as had been described to me, and that I could have taken it very easily. But I'm not too worried since I will visit White Island later in the trip, and I can maybe come back again anyway since I plan to repeat some of my ticket. We all enjoyed some great food in the bar, watched the skydive DVDs and then settled down to watch Whale Rider, a story based on a Maori tribe on the east cape of the North Island. I have seen thisfilm before but it is so much more pertinent after seeing the Maori cultural experience and the film was so much more beautiful.

After leaving Taupo we made our way to Tongariro National Park hoping to do the Crossing, which is a one day walk. We found a campsite to stay at but unfortunately the owners told us the weather forecast was not good - snow blizzards in fact. To be honest we thought they were exaggerating but they were not. We woke up on Wednesday morning to find it had actually been sleeting all night and there were really strong winds. We tried to get a closer view of the mountains by going to Whakapapa village but all we could see was snow everywhere and blizzards, we couldnt believe it. We thought we would make our way to Wellington via the "Forgotton Highway" - never have I been on a road so winedy and so unfinished but the views were definately worth it. (Well I think so but poor Russell was driving so I dont know if he would agree!). We didnt quite make it to Wellington so stopped off overnight by a beach with amazing views.

On the way to river valley went through tongariro national park which was nice and went for a walk and a pic nic by a waterfall which was very beautiful and got some good views of the mountains there.

River Valley is very small, there is just a hostel there which is very nice in a valley and there are some nice walks and stuff about. The dorms were weird with all the beds merging in to one but it was not full so i could stretch out. Had a lovely roast dinner, beef with yorkshire puddings for dinner and then jumped in to a hot tub outside with some other guys outside which was nice and hot. After watched wedding crashers on DVD but fell asleep early.

Woke up early the next morning to do some white water rafting where an instructor had died a week earleir and only just been reopend. Got kitted out in all the gear and driven up the river to jump in. It was good fun but hard work and cold when the wind blew on you. The boat was half empty and meant we were not that great at paddling and ended up going down a grade 5 rapid backwards. Noone fell out but I nearly did but my feet were wedged in. Then did some jumping off some big rocks which was freezing but the woman taking photos missed me doing it, it was a little scary and i just didnt look down.

Our first Lord of the Rings film location - drove through the National park of Tongariro and had fab views of Mount Doom and of Mordor.

On our first night in Taupo I played five-a-side footy with some guys who had clubbed together to get a game from the people at local hostels. Needless to say, we ran out comfortable winners, but the standard was only Rymans Football League compared to the Champions League that was Newcastle Powerleague - big shout out to the Legends Of Subtitling Heroes. Then it was back to a pub which had the highlights of the Premiership, too.

The Tongariro crossing was quite good - a walking pole does make a huge difference. There were a couple of steep sections but I handled it quite well (slowly). I didn’t do the side summits, Mt. R. was too difficult and I didn’t have the time with Tongariro.

Amazed at how quickly the weather changed within half an hour the weather went from no clouds to fully cloud cover and very limited visibility back to no clouds. The view was fantastic and the walk covered alpine views to hot springs to lakes to bush. The last section being the bush which was a great finish to the end of the day.

Oh yeah, and as I thought, I had a bit of a nap on the hour drive back to Taupo. Tomorrow a lazy day then to Auckland Wednesday.