32 kilometres, 15,000 feet

Hey dudes,

So adventure week is over, but holy cow did I make the most of it. We'll pick up right where we left off:


Tongariro National Park

Feb. 27: Travel Day
The earliest bus leaving Rotorua heading to the Park was at 1:30 p.m., so I had the morning to explore the downtown a little more. I spent the afternoon on the bus, or should I say, many buses. Four cities, three buses, two transfers: Rotorua-Taupo-Turangi-National Park. Frig sakes.

I got to the Discovery Lodge around 4:00, only to realise that my "high-class" birthday accommodation wasn't quite, and that the lodge was in the middle of nowhere. I mean, I know I was in a national park, but seriously. The two villages in the park (Whakapapa and National Park Village) were 8 km in either direction. All the tracks--except the Crossing--start from Whakapapa, and it was going to cost me $7 every time I got a shuttle to get there and back. BAH!

The first night I had dinner at the restaurant in the lodge, marking the first time I've tried venison (aka deer). It was so yummy. Whoever killed Bambi's mother was totally justified.

Despite the less-than-swanky lodgings, is was quite nice to have a room to myself. They didn't have a cabin available with one big bed, only two single beds, which royally sucked. I'd kind of been looking forward to being able to spread out a bit. Still, I had my own bathroom (shower, no tub), my own TV and was surrounded by some of the prettiest scenery I've every seen in my life. Tongariro is truly awesome, and anyone interested in coming to New Zealand would be insane to miss it.


Feb 28: Taranaki Falls
My first night at Discovery was good. I slept well and had a bit of a lay-in in the morning, knowing that doing the Crossing the next day would involve a very early rise.

First things first, I needed some food. Dining at the restaurant was expensive, and I needed a packed lunch for the trek the next day. I got one of the guys to drive me to the only grocery store in the park, a gas station just outside National Park Village, where I picked up some bread, cold meats, a bit of cheese, snacks and some instant noodles for dinner that night ($24 venison to 86 cent noodles... I really have no concept of middle ground).

After I got back and put my stuff away, I decided it was time to do the 6 km trek to Taranaki Falls from Whakapapa Village as a bit of a warm-up for the 17 km I was to do the next day. Instead of paying out another $7 for a ride to the village, I packed a lunch, some water and my iPod and headed down the highway on foot, sticking to the gravel paths on the outside shoulder.

About 6 km along, I came to a sign that said "Whakapapa Village Walk." It added an extra kilometre to the walk, but cut through the woods instead of the highway which would not only be safer, but also offered a change of scenery from pavement and guard-rails. Good to go.

It took me about two hours to reach Whakapapa. I took a tour around and noticed the focal point of the village was a large hotel called the Chateau Tongariro. It wasn't quite up to the standards of the famous Fairmont hotels in Canada, but looked like quite the swanky place, so I went in to have a look. It was GORGEOUS, and "just for fun," (right Mum?? :D) I went to check out what was available and how much it would set me back.

Well they did have rooms available. In fact they had some quite nice rooms available. I took a moment to think about it and finally just said 'screw it.' The next day I was going to be trekking through 17 km of unbelievable terrain, it was my birthday, I hadn't seen a bathtub in two months, and I was dieing to get out of Discovery Lodge. One "premium" room please!

Sweet :D.

Following that (and with a little more bounce in my step) I headed out to Taranaki falls, which was another two hours return. The weather was crap, but I'd finally picked up a decent rain jacket at one of the little shops in the village, so I was able to stay fairly dry, despite the increasing rain.

By the time I got back it was close to 5:00 p.m. and still raining. Another 9 km walk back to the Lodge didn't really appeal to me, so I called for the shuttle. Since it was only a one-way trip, they were kind enough not to charge me :).

I spent the evening in my room, preparing my lunch for the next day and eating my 86 cent dinner in bed while watching the tube. Life could be worse.


March 1: Tongariro Crossing
Now before I start this section I would just like to say that the Tongariro Crossing is considered to be one of the best one-day hikes in the world. It takes you through steep rocky slopes, around the base of an active volcano, past the beautiful Blue and Emerald Lakes, and down into a naturally formed volcanic crater. As a bonus, many parts of the crossing were used by Peter Jackson as the set for Mordor and Mount Doom (aka Mt. Ngauruhoe) for Lord of the Rings, and it becomes quite obvious why as you move through the varying terrain.

That being said, I saw none of these wonderful things. Oh, I did the Crossing. All 17-freaking-kilometres. I just didn't see anything.

See, when it's pissing rain for seven and a half hours and all you can see in front of you is the next rock and maybe the pack of a fellow hiker, it doesn't leave much room for Kodak moments.

Yea. Seven and a half hours in the wind, the rain, and the freezing cold. By the time we reached the summit it was hovering around zero, and my t-shirt, light sweater and rain jacket were just not cutting it. It was 100 % miserable, and from the very beginning the only goal was to finish.

On the bus over the the base I had been lucky enough to meet an English father (Stuart) and daughter (Vicky-my age), and they kindly invited me to join them for the trek. It was great to have some company, especially in such lousy weather.

We were dropped off at the base in the dark, just after 6:00 a.m.. Following the necessary bathroom breaks and equipment checks, we were off at exactly 6:30.

It was around 10:00 a.m. when we finally reached the summit. Almost half of the walk up was spent on what is known as The Devil's Staircase (I'm linking these to pictures I found on the net of people who did the trek with fantastic weather. I myself didn't snap a single shot the entire way through). The only guide we had was the odd wooden poll sticking out of the ground which made sure we didn't stray too far off course or lead ourselves off the edge. Despite the fact that it was a long, steep climb, it was my favourite part of the whole experience.

Next was the South Crater, where I said goodbye to any dry spaces left in my shoes. Rain had accumulated along the flat surface, creating large puddles through the path, and mud everywhere. There was absolutely no hope.

After the break through the flat crater, we climbed up again, this time to the Red Crater and along the Blue and Emerald Lakes, none of which I could make out with any distinct clarity. Red Crater is technically the summit, and Vicky and Stuart were kind enough to pause in the rain and howling winds, bring out some mini Snickers bars and sing me Happy Birthday. Our hands were too cold to actually unwrap the chocolate bars, and I could hardly hear their voices over the wind, but the gesture was very much appreciated!!

From the top of Red Crater you (are supposed to) get great views of Mt. Ngauruhoe, the big volcano. Again, it was nothing but cloud.

With six kilometres left to go, we reached the Ketetahi Hut, an oasis for us drenched, cold, hungry travellers. The hut was warm and the fire was roaring, so we ate our lunch and warmed what we could for an hour before heading back out in the rain.

The last two hours were the longest. We reached the last terrain, forest and 2000 steps to the bottom, at around noon, and I honestly thought it would never end. My knees have never taken such a pounding. Finally seeing the car-park and our awaiting bus was absolute bliss. I sent my thanks again to whatever force had lead me to book myself a room at the Chateau. I was in definite need of some pampering.

We were back at the Discovery Lodge by 2:30. I picked up my bag and got a ride to the Chateau, where I checked into my room and didn't leave until 10:00 a.m. the next morning. I spent two hours soaking my aching muscles in the bathtub, ordered room service for dinner, watched two movies on the satellite TV from the comfort of my queen-sized bed while downing mini-bottles of white wine and champagne from the minibar, along with some complimentary chocolates. Breakfast was also delivered to the room the next morning. It was absolute heaven, and the good and the bad definitely made this birthday one for the books.




Taupo

March 2: Travel Day
I spent almost the entire day trying to get out of the park. Buses to Turangi, the closest city, are found by the dozen for those going in, but are apparently in short supply going out. I finally got one at 4:30, and was in Taupo by 6:30. I got the shuttle to my hostel and did a well-needed load of laundry. Robyn and Alex arrived from Auckland at around 11:00 p.m., and we basically said hello and went to bed.


March 3: Taupo Tandem Time
Mom and Dad: don't kill me.

Since Robyn and I had met up in Melbourne on Australia Day, we had made a pact: before I left New Zealand, the two of us were going on a tandem skydive. Many places throughout the country offer jumps at 9,000, 12,000 and 15,000 feet, and as soon as our schedules meshed, we would be going.

A few days before I made plans for my birthday weekend, Robyn asked me my plans. I told her I was headed for Taupo, which coincidenally is one of New Zealand's skydiving hubs. She made plans to come down with Alex for the weekend to meet me, and me made reservations for Saturday afternoon.

The Taupo Tandem Skydive company shuttle picked us up at 12:45 and took us over to Taupo Airport, which it shares with two other skydiving companies, as well other private airplanes. Robyn and I hadn't decided at what height we wanted to jump, though the consensus with people at the hostel and others we'd met that had done it is that bigger was definitely better. The freefall was longer (at least a minute), and you got time to freak out as well as take in the scenery.

After a little himming and hawing we decided that for something like this, it was usually best to go big or go home, and we signed up for the 15,000 ft. jump.

There were six of us in the plane in total. Three were jumping out at 12,000 feet, and after we dumped them out, Robyn, myself and a Brit named Andy headed onwards and upwards. I was at the very back of the plane, meaning I had the rather unique experience of watching everyone else fly out before me.

My tandem master was a guy named Glenn, and he was really awesome. Also a Brit, he'd been in New Zealand for about a year, and had over 10,000 jumps under his belt. He'd already done seven that day alone by the time we arrived. He got me all suited up and strapped in, and was was fantastic at distracting me from our impending task by pointing out interesting sights and tidbits through the window of the plane. I told him it had been my birthday two days before, and he promised to make it a memorable belated birthday experience.

Once we reached 15,000 ft, Robyn was the first to go, then Andy, then me. I'll do my best to describe the surrealness of an experience such as skydiving, but I doubt it will even come close. It's absolutely unreal.

First of all, you spend the first ten seconds in complete shock and panic. Your body has no idea how to react to the fact that you just jumped out of a moving vehicle and have not immediately landed on the ground. After you get over that (and it's surprising how quickly you do), the adrenaline kicks it and you basically just start screaming your head off while still being able to take in your surroundings (like, I remember noticing that I could see the curve of the earth right after we jumped out of the plane, and that I could see both the east and west coast of the North Island, as well as the top of the South Island).

Also accompanying me on the way down was a camera man, who took the pictures you see here, as well as a DVD video of me jumping out of the plane, and my entire freefall down. He was awesome too, and was unbelievably skilled at whizzing around Glenn and I to get my screaming face from a variety of angles. He left us shortly after Glenn pulled our chute, and fell for an extra couple hundred feet so as not to get tangled up with us.

The freefall lasted about a minute, and the trip down from then was probably another 3 to 4 minutes. This was the amazing part, where your body finally relaxes, being gloriously relieved by the fact that you're still alive. Glenn told me a bit more about the area during the ride down, and even pointed out Mt. Maunganui when I told him I was working in Tauranga. I couldn't believe how clearly you could see it from that height (Taupo is a good hour south of Tauranga).

My landing was less than elegant, as is shown in the video (it's really long, so I can't put it up on the net like I do with the ones from my camera. I'll see what I can do about that though), and I must say I felt no relief being back on solid ground. I could have flown around up there for hours more, if I'd had the choice.

Robyn unfortunately didn't have quite the same reaction, as she gets terrible motion sickness when travelling in small planes, and had forgotten her tablets in Auckland. She was quite happy to be back on the ground, and even more relieved to find her bed once we got back to the hostel. I let her sleep it off for a bit, and went to the Internet café to start this post.

Alex was back from his activities by the time I returned to the room. He had rented a bicycle for the day and had gone to check out some of the off-road paths for the afternoon.

Our touring for the remainder of the weekend was minimal. The Taupo Ironman was happening on Saturday, so after a trip to the local prawn farm for dinner went bust (who closes a restaurant at 5:00 anyway?? I'm telling you, only in New Zealand...) we grabbed some pizza downtown and ate it by the track as the runners passed (it was only after that we realised this was kind of a jerky thing to do, as these guys had been swimming, cycling and running for about 13 hours straight. Ah well...)

We finished the night off with a few drinks, and then hit the sack. The white water rafting trip we had scheduled for the next day was cancelled because the company was understaffed (half of them were doing the Ironman, apparently), and we decided we'd rent some kayaks to go for a ride around Lake Taupo (New Zealand's largest lake) the next day.


March 4: Taupo to Tauranga
One look at the grey sky and inevitable rain took care of any thoughts we'd had about renting the kayaks when we got up the next morning. We weren't about to shell out the cash if the weather was going to be crap (and after my Crossing experience I was in no mood to be out in the rain again).

Instead we took a tour around the outskirts of Taupo, stopping in at little road-side attractions when we noticed one that tickled our fancy. We stopped in at a working honey farm and "meadery" which offered about 30 different kinds of honey (before that I'd only known of two: my dad's and the crap you buy at the grocery store...), as well as another few dozen kinds of alcohol made from honey. Very odd.

I walked out with a half-litre bottle of honey-wine after I tried it and enjoyed it (it actually tastes a little like ice-wine because its so sweet). Robyn and Alex got a cream liquor of some kind.

After that all the was really left was the ride back to Tauranga, after which Alex and Robyn would continue on their way back up to Auckland. We stopped in Rotorua for lunch, and then killed some time shopping in Tauranga while we waited for reception to open at the YHA.

I spent the evening catching up with Joe, who was now quite desperate to leave the hostel and find an apartment. After I left he'd gotten a new roommate: a 16-year old high school drop out who seems to breath in more dope than air. He'd asked at the front desk if we would be in the same room again once I got back, but they said it was too complicated to work out. He's stuck with the pot-head, and I have a room to myself for the week... :P

Once Joe got the motivation, he had searched around for a few places, but hadn't looked deeply into any because he wasn't confident enough in his English skills to ask the right questions. I told him I'd get on it the next day (working at the newspaper does tend to help when you're looking for something in the classifieds...). I looked into a couple places and we have an appointment to see a furnished 2-bedroom tomorrow. Here's hopin'.

So there you have it. Birthday week complete. It was an expensive one, but very much needed. It's definitely a good thing I'm on the receiving end of the cash flow for the next while though.

Yikes :S.