Two Beers and a Pretzel

On the 2nd, Thomas, James, Mandy, Yung, myself, and a few others attempted the Tongariro Alpine Crossing – New Zealand’s best trek, and ranked as one of the best one day treks in the world thru a world heritage site.

With this crossing only being at 1886 meters, you’d think I could easily handle it after the 4200m Inca Trail…  Probably, yes – except that I attempted to climb an active volcano in the middle of the trek.  Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from LOTR).

We arrived at the dropoff point in Tongariro National Park at 7:30 AM to see sunrise with the volcano’s in the background. Mt Tongariro (left) and Mt Ngauruhoe (right).

I have a pretty bad sense of direction, but it must be better than the combined efforts of 4 hobbits, a wizard, a dwarf, an elf, and 2 men.  I don’t know why the Lord of the Rings was a 9 hour movie trilogy…  the path was really well marked, and the whole hike only took about 8 hours.

About an hour and a half later, we made it to the base of Mt Ngauruhoe.  A group of us debated for a few minutes, then decided to climb from the base at 1590m to the top at 2281.

It’s hard to capture the steepness of the hill in a photo…

It’s easier to gauge the hill in this video.  Be sure to watch for the rockslide that I cause.  I was climbing on loose rocks and tried to pull myself up onto a larger rock (the size of a dishwasher) when it started coming down at me.  I jumped out of the way and it rolled forever.  Everyone on the volcano could hear it rolling and was talking about it.  It’s funny when people you don’t know come up and say “Did you see that huge rock roll down the hill?” and all you can say is “Yeah, I started it when I almost pulled it over on me.”  For the sake of the video, I checked for people down below and recreated the event with a much smaller rock.

Anyway…  taking the occasional break from climbing, the views were great, and there were a number of interrestng rocks.

I made it to the steaming vent at the top, where the views were fantastic.  It wasn’t so much a vent, as a pile of rocks with steam coming out from under them.  The only bizarre surprise was that instead of the expected sulfur smell, this steam carried the odor of cooking rice.

Then I literally surfed down the volcano.  Point your toes up and start sliding (check the video).  Yes, you get totally covered in dust.

At the bottom I met up with Yung and Mandy again and we continued the trek by a number of volcanic lakes and hot spring pools.  Here’s Mandy and me at the mineral pool.

The 691m (2300ft) ascent of the volcano totally wore me out.  Two steps up, slide back one.  Two days later my glutes and calves still hurt, but that day I ran out of water (crank 2.5 liters) and energy (not enough sugary food).  The ascent had already put us about 1 hour behind schedule and we had 14 more kilometers to hike, including another 300 meters in elevation to cross the pass.

We sped thru the remaining likometers, but I started getting dizzy and watched other people fall pretty badly rushing to get to their bus.  With 3K to go and had to slow down and beg for water from a few nice old ladies.  That was the best water I’ve ever had.  Dizzyness gone -  I got to the bus 30 minutes late and had to pay and extra $10NZ to the diver for waiting.  I was totally expecting to miss the bus and have to shell out another $50nz for a different bus, so I was glad to pay just ten.

The next day on the way to Wellington, we stopped along the desert road South of the pass and I got a good panoramic of the volcanos.

Speaking of Wellington…

I stayed at the Downtown Backpacker’s Hostel (Which was barely in downtown) at #1 Bunny street – across from the train station.

It’s also near the Pariment building and the “Beehive” offices of the Prime Minister.

Later that night (the 3rd), I met up with Rebecca again for the night tour of the Karori wildlife sanctuary.  This was originally the water supply for Wellington, and an old Govenor stocked the reservior with pearch to make it his private fishing lake.

Now, the area has been fenced off and traps have been laid to keep out predatory mammals so that the native fauna can live much like they did before the Maori and English brought rats, cats, dogs, ferrets, possum, and all the other mammals to the island.

Starting at dusk, We heard a pair of Kiwi calling to each other.  The male’s call is higher pitched than the female.  Then after a lot of treking and few close calls and searching with red flashlights, we saw two Spotted Kiwi (the smallest Kiwi species) running thru the woods on either side of the path.  Unfortunately, it was too dark and the birds were too fast for a meaningful picture…  It’s not like they walk up and say ”HI”.  Imagine trying to find a brown chicken in the woods at night…

…but here’s some info on Kiwi.

Today (the 4th), I’m crossing the Cook Straight to get to the South Island.  Mandy went North from Taupo, but we may meet up again in a week.  Yung is going North from Wellington.   Rebecca, Thomas and James are still here with me on a massive ferry for the 3 hour crossing.

I’ll have 3 days in Nelson and hopefully some sea kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park before moving on…

Today was just as fun-packed as the last 2 days.

We started touring the grounds of the old government building in Rotoura, which is reputedly the most photographed building in New Zealand.

Then to a nearby geyser that erupts at 10:15 every morning.  We were suspicious of that, but it is a real geyser.  A park ranger dumps soap down the vent and the hot water surges past the cold upper layer as the thermal barrier is broken by the soap.  They say that if they didn’t use the soap that it would erupt naturally every 3 days.  Kinda fake, but real enough…

Then went to a better geothermal park just outside of town that had some really pretty features…

And some ugly ones…

We hit up a store that makes and sells many different variaties of honey (and a honey-mead wine that was really good).  Here’s Mandy and me at the goofy entrance sign…

We saw a wickedly fast river with a deadly waterfall (you’re not allowed to raft it by law)…

Then some of us did a 47m (157 ft) bungee jump over a different part of the river.  My 1st real bungee jump ever and I opted to go off backwards…

They mis-dialed the weight, so I was about a foot short of touching the river.  I’ll try to upload the video soon…

Finally, on to Taupo – on the shores of Lake Taupo – across from the real mountain that served as Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies.  I hit golf balls at the volcano (trying to win $5000NZD).  The conical peak of Mt Doom (really Mount Ngauruhoe) is actually in the clouds in this photo – just left of center…  A little farther left in the image is the non-conical Mount Ruapehu – The largest active volcano in New Zealand, the highest point on the North Island, and one of the most active volcanoes on Earth…

It’s a nice town that doesn’t smell bad, so I like it…

I also bought some souvenirs – a very nice real Leatherman (my fake one is in the Lima airport since I left it in my carry-on bag, but this one is expensive, so I’ll be sure to remember to pack it), and a new North Face hiking jacket – because a group of us are doing one of New Zealand’s most popular treks tomorrow – crossing the Southern Alps – near those active volcanoes…

Sorry to leave everyone in the dark for a few days…  It got much better….  So do the pictures (thanks for calling out my crappy photos, Alan).

On the 30th I caught the “Magic Bus” backpacker’s tour bus.  Since it’s after the peak season, they are giving you the South Island tour for $1NZ when you buy the North Island tour for $500NZ.  The deal includes guided tour bus transport along the major routes, and discounts on activities and hostels as you go.  Being alone and not liking the vibe in Auckland, I thought the guided tour was the way to go… and I was right.  There’s a lot of fun people on this bus.

We toured around Auckland for a while, including a lookout where you could see a panorama of the city…

And the famous “One Tree Hill” (like the U2 song – back when they actually made good music) where the tree no longer stands because the Brits cut the original tree down in the 1800′s and planted a new tree.  Then in the early 1990′s the Maori locals demanded that the ‘impostor’ tree be removed and a native tree planted.  There’s a monument there now…

Then we headed South to Waitomo where we all saw Angora Rabbits being sheared.

They put these fluffy rabbits on a rack to stretch their wrinkly skin smooth and start shaving…

Then a number of us booked a “Blackwater Rafting” trip.  This is actually tubing in a subterranean river – a combination of spelunking and tubing with glow worms all around.  The pics were from the DVD that a number of us pitched in for, and obviously use the camera flash.  In reality, we were floating in cold water in a pitch black crevasse with a ceiling full of glow worms in patterns that remind you of stargazing at the milky way.

Then we ‘chained’ up and floated as a group…

There were a few places where they made you jump, and one really big slide – all in near total darkness.

After lunch the bus headed to Rotoura – the most visited tourist destination in New Zealand.  The city was built on a lake that is part of a caldera left behind when the volcano erupted and collapsed in on itself, so there are a lot of geothermal features like mud pots, steamers, springs, and geysers.  The entire town is full of hot springs, and steam vents, making it smell like a putrid mix of rotten eggs and decaying flesh – the practical upshot of which is that you can fart with impunity, as most people with thank you for improving the local air quality.

A large group of us also booked a Maiori cultural tour and dinner.  A bus picked us up and took us a bit outside of town to a site that recreates a native Maiori village, where some Maiori descendants put on a show that includes ancient tribal war dances.  They also act out a story of the introduction of guns into their culture.

You learn a bunch of chants, chose a chief for your tour group… Then you sit down to a Maiori traditional meal – which surprizingly resembled a fully catered Thanksgiving dinner (ok, it actually was turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc…).

Back at the hostel, we relaxed in the geothermally heated swimming pool.

The next day – on the 31st, a few of us went Whitewater rafting on a short 1.4Km chunk of river.  This sounds way too short, but it includes a 2m waterfall followed immediately by a 1m fall, then a bit later the largest single drop waterfall that (they claim) you can raft anywhere in the world…  7 meters (23.3ft).  Here’s a compilation of still shots of my boat going over the falls…

We made it…

Luckily, right next to the rafting office is Hell’s Gate Geothermal Park and Spa where we all took mud baths after touring the park.  The park was lackluster by Yellowstone standards, and even though my new sexy self is 45 lbs lighter than 5 months ago – you don’t want to see my naked body with strategically placed packs of mud…  Thus, you get to see the goofy sign at the park entrance…

I got on Air New Zealand Flight NZ1 at 10:15 PM in LA on Thursday, flew for 12 hours, and arrived at Auckland, New Zealand at sunrise (7:30 AM) on Saturday.

I got to the Hostel around 9:30 AM and promptly fell asleep for 24 hours – thus waking up Sunday morning.  I’m currently about 17 hours ahead of Ohio time (same as Lima, Peru), so I’m really jet lagged from where I was 4 days ago…

It’s about 70 fahrenheight and clear today, and I have some exploring to do.