Tongariro Crossing

     On Friday April 4th Sara, Avlin, Luis, Maude and I went to Ohakune. On Saturday we got up really early to drive half an hour to National Park and get on a subtle to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The crossing is 19.4 km (12 miles) with an altitude change of 800m (2627 feet). On average it takes about seven hours to cross it. It is one of New Zealand's most popular tramping sites with about 100,000 people crossing each year which creates a lot of traffic. When we started the joke was that they need to build fast and slow lanes. So many people were zooming past us it felt as though we were hardly moving.

Map of the hike with notes on where the photos were taken.

1. About to get on the shuttle to start the crossing at a lovely 8 am.

2. The first view of Mt. Ngauruhoe. About 15 minutes walk from the start

3. Volcanic rocks! I thought that all of the rock formations
were really cool so I took oodles and oodles of pictures of them. 

4. Soda springs. Only a five minute walk from one of the busiest and
grossest toilets I've ever had the privilege of  utilizing.
The name is some what questionable because it neither
looks nor sounds anything remnant of soda. 

Between Soda Springs and the south crater is a huge uphill called the Devil's Staircase. It was incredibly steep and very rocky. There were steps that were sort of built into the side of the mountain. Some of the dirt had fallen out of the steps making little ledges and holes to trip on.

5. Taking a much deserved break at the top of the Devil's Stair case. 

6. Mt. Ngauruhoe from the south crater

I mistakenly believed that once we got here all the difficult up hill part was over...I was so so wrong.

7. Red Crater. The view from Red Crater so so super cool.
 I attempted to take some panoramic shots of it but I couldn't
ever get it to work huge technology fail...

7. The summit! So close but so so so so far!

From here you think 'ah it's just a quick jaunt up there' then you start up and you realize that it's a climb up a hill made of gravel.

8. The view of blue lake from the summit. Such a beautiful view. It was such a shame that
we couldn't stay there longer but the traffic made it hard to just stand and enjoy it.

9. The Emerald Lakes from the summit

                                       



I nearly fell down the hill and toppled into
one of these. The walk down is a volcanic gravel which slips and slides and affords no traction. I was precariously sliding down it, mostly on my feet and had some how managed to avoid crashing into other people when a group of boy scouts fell and came sliding into me from behind. It made for a quick time getting down hill but not the most ideal being as sliding down a hill followed by a group of middle school boys doesn't afford one much directional or speed control.

10. View from starting the descent. 

11. Smoke coming from the mountain in the volcanic area. 

 
   The way down felt like it took forever. It wasn't especially difficult or anything but it was so long. You have to walk through the forested area and I kept thinking ah it should be just around the corner and there was just more an more forest. After a long and arduous journey we finished the hike at 4:30; exhausted, proud and dirty. We had a bit of time before the shuttle came where we hung out and enjoyed our achievement.

Waiheke Island

     Two weeks ago I went to Waiheke Island with two friends. I have been holding off writing about it because I was hoping to do some photo sharing and get some better pics for the blog however that hasn't happened so this will just have to be a little photo sparse.
     Waiheke Island is a 45 minute ferry ride from Auckland but it feels like it's another world. We got up super early on a Saturday morning to go over. Once on the island we got bus passes and went to the Ostend Farmers Market. The market was fun. It was lots of the local olive growers selling olives and many towns people selling crafts, antiques and thrift items. There was also lots of food. I had a delicious crepe for lunch there. Then we hung out at the beach for a little while. Saturday afternoon we got on the Vineyard Hopper tour bus and went to a number of wineries. We went to Stoneyridge first (http://www.stonyridge.co.nz). It was good wine but it was so busy that we didn't get very personal service.  I loved the location. It was absolutely beautiful. Next we went to Te Motu (http://www.temotu.co.nz). It is only a few minute walk through the vineyard from Stoneyridge. I really liked how personal the service there was. They had someone explain each wine to us. I wasn't a huge fan of their wines though. I thought they were all quite strong. Then we ventured on to Casta Miro but it was so busy that we just walked to the next one. There weren't places to sit at Casta Miro and we didn't want to do a tasting at the bar in a packed room. We walked down the hill from Casta Miro to Obsidian (http://www.obsidian.co.nz). I really liked Obsidian. I had a wind there called a viognier. I had never seen it before. It is a white wine that was sweet but not over powering. It was really great. The location was also lovely. It was much less crowded than many of the other places. We left Obsidian in hopes of going to Mud Brick (http://www.mudbrick.co.nz) but there was a wedding so we were rerouted to Cable Bay (http://www.cablebayvineyards.co.nz). We could have done a tasting there but the tasting room was a dark cellar and they have a beautiful outdoor area that looks out onto Auckland City so we choose to have a drink and a chat on the lawn instead of in the dark tasting room.

Little Palm Beach at sunset

   

Bio-Shelter Back Packers

Once we had finished tasting for the day we headed down to Onera Beach. Alvin and I went swimming. Then we hung out on the beach and snacked on chips and home made hummus that Alvin got from the market. Eventually we had to move on so we could check in at our hostel. We stayed at Bio-Shelter Backpackers. Sara came with us to check in even though she couldn't stay the night. Then we all walked to Little Palm Beach together. We got fish and chips for dinner there. Then we all headed back to the ferry. Sara went back to Auckland :( Then Alvin and I returned to the hostel. Now the hostel was a very unusual place. The owner has been making it during his spare time over the past few years. It is made of a stucco like substance, various bricks and stones, odd scraps of wood and lots of decorative bits. There were mosaics in the floor made from broken glass and the ends of bottles in the walls. It was very visually interesting. Alvin and I spent a lot of time looking at things and wondering why things had been put places. I also wonder where he found all of the items. It was such an eclectic batch of things that it doesn't seem reasonable that he has just acquired them on the island over the years but I suppose it's possible. The odd thing for me was that so much work had been spent on making it visually interesting that there were a few moments of potentially bad craftsman ship. I did like that he was trying to lead a very eco friendly life. He had solar panels and the waste from the toilets was composted for the gardens.

View from Cable Bay

     Saturday we got a bike hire. That may not have been our best idea cause Waiheke is a very mountainous place. After getting our bikes we biked into town and had gelato for breakfast. Then we went to Mud Brick. It was really nice. It was higher up on the hill than Cable Bay and you could see more of the shore. The views were absolutely beautiful. The wine was also quite nice. I found a red wine that I quite liked which is pretty rare for me. Then we sat outside and enjoyed the view for a while. After that we decided to go back to Cable Bay cause it was just awesome. We spent most of Sunday hanging out at Cable Bay and chatting. We got a really amazing lunch there. We had mini burgers and grilled paprika shrimp. It was so delicious! Then we biked back to the ferry station and came home. It was super nice to have a weekend away.