The North Island

Yesterday Josie and I went mountain climbing. We hiked the Tongariro Crossing. Well, part of it. Had we wanted to do the whole trek we would have needed to pay a guide and rent gear and stuff. We like to go our own way. And not pay $150 each to climb a mountain when we could do it partway for free.

We started at the "end" of the trail instead of the beginning. The trail started out in a forested area, and ascended very quickly. We made a good number of rest stops along the way. After about an hour the forest abruptly ended and we entered sort of a bushy area. We could see really far from here. After another hour of hiking we reached a hut where we had peanut butter sandwiches and fresh, cold, potable water.

The trail itself got very twisty when we left the hut. It was basically impossible to see where the trail went past the next turn. The trail was never that steep, but zigzagged up the hills, so the ascent was very slow.

After a while we started encountering snow. We were not equipped to walk in the snow, and I wasn't about to risk slipping on the snow and sledding all the way down the mountain. So we turned back. We did not get to see the Emerald Lakes, but we did get six hours of really good exercise.

Today we are in Rotorua. This whole town smells like sulphur pretty much all the time because of the heavy volcanic activity. We got a hot tip from a security guard to go to a little hot springs along a side road, instead of paying $25 to go to one of the tourist trap springs that are all around this area. It was super cool. The water actually wasn't that hot, but it was definitely warm.

This afternoon we're just resting and recovering from yesterday (ouch, my sore muscles!) Take a look at my photos!

From On the road

From Tongariro Crossing

From Rotorua and Thermal Explorers