Taupo
Characters: Pree, Alyssa, Rachael, Jo Dee
Thursday – We leave right after Kapa Haka, the others already in the rental car picking up Rachael and I. The trip was decently long, and with three of us in the back, and me in the middle, it wasn’t very comfortable. I looked back as far as I could though the back window and saw about a million stars. After that, we all stargazed out our windows. The hostel was very nice, almost decorated in a Spanish style, with red and yellow tiles. For some reason, there were four bunks and one queen sized bed. Pree took the queen bed, and we all teased her relentlessly for it.
Friday – up at 6 to be at mountain, to hike the Tongoriro Crossing by 8 am. The pass is a 19 km (12 mile) day hike on various terrain. I was wearing my jeans and a wool sweater. After the bus driver’s dire warnings of chaffed legs and freezing body, I gladly rented fleece pants and a rain jacket from him. I also bought a thick wool beanie for $8, which I thought was quite a steal. It was bizarre reflecting that in my (very small camera) backpack, I had 2 liters of water, enough food to last me for a day, and almost an entire change of clothes. It gave me a strange idea of independence. Feeling of being alive – so much exercise that I stopped being sore. My new boots held up very well. At the end of the day, I had only two small blisters.
Up the mountain – Mount Doom, actually. Crater. Up another mountain. Fall down. Emerald lakes. Grasslands and sulfur. We fall a lot. The end of the track is a forest that seems to go on forever. We hike it with Canadians. On the way out we passed a crying girl- her boots were too small. It sort of ruined the whole mood.
Other group arrives and skydives. That night was David’s birthday. Those of us who had hiked ate Italian food but were too tired to go out that night for David's. Crash at hostel.
Saturday – Cruise around Lake Taupo, where we saw some awesome Maori carvings dating back to ... 1980. Pree and I go to Craters of the moon – others go to beach. Craters of the moon was like a park to see huge amounts of steam coming out of the ground. Drive to rotorua – everything closed. FINISH A BEER. (Lion red)
Sunday – Thermal wonderland, come home. Thermal wonderland was pretty sweet. I can't describe the combination of sulfur and water... hopefully I can put pictures up on facebook, though that's been sort of dicey.
Yeah, I think that summarizes it nicely. More later.
