Hi!
After a couple of days relaxing after the sky dive at lake Taupo, it was time to attempt the Tongariro crossing....to quote the lonely planet guide 'this walk should not be taken on lightly'.......having done the 'walk' I would fully agree with them! I was almost beaten by this one! So we left lake Taupo bright and early at 6am to arrive at the National Park at 9am to give us the full day to venture across this alpine terrain. Before we could make our way to the start point of the crossing, we had to check in at the activity centre to ensure we suitably attired for the crossing and also register ourselves to do the hike, so that the police could be called if we did not make it to the other side by our finish time of 5.30pm. The good news is I was one of the few given the all clear as being suitably dressed for the occasion, saving myself several dollars in equipment hire......see Stew, I told you carrying that woolly hat and fleece top around in Asia would be of a benefit to me at some point! When everyone had the correct gear on, we hopped on the bus to be taken the start of the crossing. Before the bus set of, we were advised of any medical conditions we should make known now, and also had the key 'danger points' identified to us.......e,g here is where people faint.......the most common illness at this part of the crossing is heart attack.......when you cross this point you will be in alpine conditions and the weather will be very cold and poor visibility....people suffer from altitude sickness at this point.........if you loose the trail you will get lost etc etc.....With all the other activities I've filled in the 'helath/disclaimer' questionnaire without too much importance thinking it was the Kiwis being a bit over cautious, but this one was starting to worry me a bit......was I really fit enough for this?!
We got to the start of the crossing and headed off about 10.30am. I looked around at the other people from the group who looked quite fit and raced off at quite a pace, and I thought I'm going to have to do some work here to keep up! I don't want to get left in the cloud and be the one they call the police for! So I stepped up the pace and positioned myself about mid-way in the group. I kept loosing position though in order to stop to add/remove layers....this was hard work in the gusting wind! We had been given a timetable of where we should be at marker points to know if we were on schedule to make it for the lift back at the other end.....there was a $200 fine for being late (or the 20k walk back!), so that was motivation! I made it to marker 1 on 1 hour and 15 mins, and the schedule gave a target, hour and a half, so not too bad. I was already exhausted by this point though, the wind was so strong, the terrain was bare, rocky and steep and I wondered if I should turn back or keep going. I persuaded myself to keep going, and ended up chatting to a couple of other girls from the bus, one Canadian and one Swiss, and the 3 of us went at a similar pace, and completed the rest as a group. We made to the summit in about 3 hours, 1/2 ahead of schedule. I'd love to say the effort was worth the views, but all I can tell you was that I was in the middle of a cloud which made me wet and cold - pictures on Facebook. The climb down wasn't really any easier that the climb up, as the first part was very sandy, which was quite slippy, which was a wee bit scary at that point. After the initial steep decent, the terrain became more gentle and we stopped at a little hut for our packed lunch that we had taken with us. We had stepped up the pace and arrived here about 1.15 mins ahead of schedule. So we decided to have a good break here before carrying on to the bottom....after all we would only have to sit and wait for the bus to take us back at 5.30pm, and I'd rather sit with the brilliant views of lake Taupo than in the car park. We discovered there was actually a 'hut warden' who lives up on the mountain, 5 days on, 2 days off. He was a guy from LA and I spent some time quizzing him about how he keeps himself entertained on a mountain side for 5 days! Anyway, he was waiting for the chopper to land and bring him gas canisters and toilet roll. This was a bit like Christmas for him, so we stayed to hang out with him and join him for his Christmas celebration! After this excitement we headed down further down the mountain, about every 20 minutes the landscape, climate and terrain seemed to change, we saw lots of different eco-systems as we headed down the mountain. The accent was tough on the lungs, but the decent was tough on the knees! The last two km felt like they went on forever, and I was getting soooo tired, we had walked/climbed 19.5km in Alpine conditions. But we made it to the end and I felt so proud we had done it, given I was thinking about turning back at one point, and we made it with half and hour to spare, but this excitement was short lived though. There are only 2 events that have made me angry in the whole trip and this was one of them. When we got the the bottom the rest of the group had all completed it and where waiting......when we got to the bottom, they clapped us saying 'you finally made it' because we were last. We explained that we knew we were ahead of time so stopped at the hut for a while so we didn't have to wait at the car park. One of the girls from the group said, "yeah but we've been waiting for over and hour' we've already called the bus and it is on its way". This really pi$$ed me off, as I didn't think it was very team spirited for something that was quite a challenge for us all, and that everyone should be congratulated for completing. Calling the bus to come and collect the group when there were 3 people still walking, is not nice in my books, especially as at this point they didn't know if we had stopped or were struggling to get back. We had been told at the beginning, there is no point racing off if you have long legs, enjoy the crossing as you will only have to wait for in the car park at the other end. I was so mad, I decided to stay an extra night at the National Park hostel so I didn't have to get the bus with these people the next day, and joined a new group! We had actually deliberately taken our time and stopped, but if they had given that reaction to someone who had struggled with the walk, it would have been even worse. Anyway, rant over! For those who want to know the second thing that made me angry, it was a slightly less significant event involving a cup of tea and the bus driver telling me I couldn't take it on the bus. I understand why he doesn't food and drink on the bus, but there was a lead up to this event which I won't go into which made me question I don't know why I bother helping out other people and being considerate to others, when it does me no favours in return. I wanted to say to him 'stop telling me what to do'!!!! Anyway, I've calmed down now. Dinner and few beers in the hostel after the walk, (not with anyone from the group needless to say, but someone else I met at the hostel) helped calm me down and ease the aching muscles from this 20k hike!
OK, so having had an extra day at the National Park, where I didn't do anything as it bucketed down with rain all day) I got the express bus to windy welly....NZ's capital, Wellington. It rained for the whole journey and I have hear this is typical Welly weather, but as soon as we got here, the clouds cleared and the sun shone, it was a beautiful welcome to Welly, so I spent the afternoon walking around the quay, soaking up the sun. I also got another unexpected welcome in Welly, I headed out in the evening to find a coffee shop to while away the hours, and as I was walking along the high street at about 10pm I herd someone picking up pace behind me, I thought uh oh, maybe I should be walking in this part of town, and the next thing I know, some one has grabbed my arse, and said 'hey Karen, good to see you'! You can imagine the surprise on his face when I turned around and he saw it was Karen, I'm not sure who was more embarrassed.....it was funny though......maybe I should have even pretended to be Karen!
Today in Wellington I had planned to go the art museum and gallery, but it was such a lovely day again, I decided to do some outdoor activities and save the museum for a rainy day. I decided to wonder up Mt Victoria to get some 'awesome' views of the city as suggested to me by the hostel receptionist......I maybe should have told him I completed the Tongario crossing a couple of days ago, this 400m climb was not kind to my calves and I think they will hate me forever. I can verify the views were 'awesome' though, so it was a good recommendation, I'll put some pictures on FB. In the afternoon I took his second recommendation and took the cable car up to the Botanical Gardens, which again had some 'awesome' views. I found a nice sunny spot and sat down whilst taking in these awesome views. It was at this point I was almost unknowingly recruited to become a Mormon! I think maybe since travelling I have become less aware/observant as it took me almost 15 minutes to notice the 'Elder Nelson' and 'Elder Finnigan' name badges, with the slogan 'beleive in Christ' printed on the two guys that approached me. I thought they were just nice people wanting chat. I can see why they approached me though.....they were probably looking for someone who.....
1. Looks like they are lacking a bit of direction in life - tick
2. Someone sitting on their own with too much time of their hands - tick
3. Someone who has a confused look on their face caused by the epiphany they have just had which conflicts the last, and the one before that, and the one before that etc etc -tick
4. Someone who is sitting on a monday afternoon trying to come up with a 3 year plan on the back of a serviette - tick
Meeting all the criteria above, I can understand why they chose me as their prey. Once I realised their mission I explained that it was only me, and me alone, that can ensure the 3 year plan is achieved, I don't think God will fix it for me. They tried to tell that God could support me in this and offered me a copy of their bible. Eamonn, I wanted to say yes and bring it home as a souvenir for you, but I didn't think it was wise to encourage them further! So we agreed to disagree and I made my down another mountain side out of the botanical gardens. Random.
Anyway, I think that brings you all up to date with the random events of the week from the North Island of NZ. One more day in windy welly and then I head to the South Island....its time to wrap up, winters coming!
Love you all x x x x x
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