Lake Taupo, Waitomo, Tongariro National Park, Wellington

Four places are being covered here, as I realized less than two weeks remain for my stay in New Zealand.  Breezing through some of these places was never my intention, but bus schedules don’t necessarily coincide with your plans.  Spending three days in every place isn’t feasible or economical. 

In the evening, I walked some of the coastline of Lake Taupo.  On my way there, I passed through a park and watched a group of guys practicing cricket.  I have no idea how it's played, but I know it and rugby are the popular sports here.  I called it a night, as it was an early start to catch the bus.

During the ride to Tongariro National Park we stopped in Waitomo to explore some of the caves.  The area is notorious for having hundreds of caves cause by the erosion of limestone.  I went on an hour tour of a cave, and our tour guide pointed out various cave features.  The highlight of the tour are the glowworms that inhabit the cave.  They omit light to draw in insects and then paralyze them with acid.  I waited until everyone left an area of the cave, and I was in complete darkness, in order to take a 60 second exposure of the glowworms.

Descending into the abyss

Glowworms dangling from the cave ceiling

An old fashion way of illuminating the caves

What you have here is you basic stalactite

60 sec exposure of some worms

There was also a quick stop at Tawhai Falls where you could jump off the falls and go for a swim.  Nobody cared to do it so I refrained, even though I really wanted to give it a try. 

Tawhai Falls and you jump from the right side

That's me if you had to guess

Missing out on the Tonga Crossing in Tongariro National Park was not an option, so I had to spend two and a half days in possibly the smallest town ever.  Nine blocks, a convenient store, and a couple dozen homes are all it consists of.  The first full day most of us did the crossing, but it was a struggle to find things to do on the second day.  Laundry, playing cards, blogging, and a walk in the Erua Forests made the day more tolerable. 

Tongariro National Park

Some guy ruined this shot :)

Going back to the first day where Danielle and I paired up to take on the epic Tonga Crossing.  It’s an ass kicker.  The first part of the trek consists of flat trails, boardwalks, and the occasional rock to climb.  You have one last chance to use a bathroom at Soda Springs, and then you must ascend the Devil’s Staircase.  That’s the name it was given, for it’s nothing but stairs and steep inclines.  You look up to something that never seems to have an end, and then you realize that the small colored dots moving are people that still haven’t reached a plateau.  After a long climb you have an option of continuing to the Emerald Lakes or climbing a Mt Ngauruhoe.   We weren’t trying to prove anything by climbing the volcano, and as far as time goes, you only could do one or the other.  The sun was shining and the weather was perfect as we made our way across a dried up level area.  During heavy rains the area must fill with water but quickly drains leaving a dried up lake bed.  As we reached the edge of the level area the protection from the wind is gone, and it becomes bitter cold.  I had my hoody and long pants, and Danielle had plenty of clothing as well, but others were wearing shorts and tank tops.  From there the trail disappeared, and you're climbing up terrain that breaks away and forces you to use your hands.  A misstep is dangerous, as there were drop offs to you left and right, and the wind doesn’t make it easier.  It wasn’t much further until we reached the Emerald Lakes, and all the climbing and rocks in your shoes are worth the views.  It doesn’t look like you’re on earth anymore.

Danielle and I with Mt Ngauruhoe in the background

Where am I?

This is where the wind picked up

Emerald Lakes

Blue Lake

Emerald Lakes

An exhausted me

Soda Springs

During the stay in the park we picked up another friend.  Nina from Germany joined Danielle and me for the next week or so.  The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is free, so we spent a couple hours exploring the 5 or 6 levels of science and history.  Later on we cooked dinner together in the hostel in Wellington.  I mean they cooked it, and I cleaned the dishes.  They had trouble getting water to boil on one of the burners, so they switched to a different one, but eventually realized they turned on the wrong burner.  They were laughing about that for a good while.  

Danielle raging on the xylophone

The agreement between the Maori and the settlers of New Zealand

A corned beef canned bull

A giant squid they recovered not long ago

Raptors!

LOTR?  That's my guess

These two are hilarious

Everyone on the bus including the driver Dan went out to a bar called Blend.  Most of us knew each other fairly well, but once everyone got enough alcohol in them it didn’t matter.  We staggered to the club Electric Avenue, where more drinking and dancing ensued.  I think everyone had a great time, although half of us had to wake at 6am to catch a ferry in the morning.     

What a great time

I filmed much of the Tongariro crossing with the GoPro strapped to my head.  The footage is very good, so if I get a chance I'll try to upload a bit.