1.5 hours to go… hmm and argh!! Got three hours on a flying coffin after that!

Sydney tonight – woohoo

I left the city a few days early and have headed to a suburb just up the coast called Plimmerton. Much more relaxed with stunning scenery. I’ll be staying here until my flight to Sydney in a few days!

One thing that is worth doing in Wellington is climbing to the Mount Victoria Lookout for views over the city and airport. Watching planes takeoff and land from there is enjoyable, if only for the fact that the runway looks waaaaaaaay to short! You can also see the soundstage used in the Lord of the Rings and King Kong films from up there.

Next Stop – Return to Oz!!

One thing Kaikoura does have, which is free, is Seals! Just south of the town is a seal sanctuary where the seals come onto the land for a bit of relaxation. Being able to stand just meters away from WILD seals is an experience! Not going up and touching them takes will power, though the signs saying they bite help with the resisting!

Tomorrow it’s due to rain again, thankfully i’m leaving and heading back to Christchurch for a night before heading to Kaikoura!

So far i’ve gone through all my photos and sorted them out, played solitaire a few times and wrote this. I’ve no idea what too do now. Apparently the rain has come from Australia where its been hailed as drought breaking!!

Think I may go and count raindrops on the window – should keep me occupied for an hour or two!!

I’m in Christchurch at the moment, having just spent a few days in a sleepy town called Akaroa a couple of hours from here. The town is built in the crater of an extinct volcano which the sea has nicely filled to create a really scenic area. Mountains just dive straight into the water and there’s enough to do to occupy a few days. Dolphin watching is the main attraction, but there is plenty of walking too.

Tomorrow I head for the tip of the Southern Alps and a town called Arthurs Pass!

The day started at about 6am when I was picked up by shuttle bus from my hostel in Taupo. This takes you to the start of the walk, drops you off and promises to meet you 17km further on at the end of the walk. From there the first half an hour is flat over alpine terrain before climbing what is known as the devils staircase which takes you to the South Crater and the base of Mount Ngauruhoe. Some Staircase, its basically a 30-45 minute rock climb. A lot of fun to do.

Mount Ngauruhoe was used as the basis for Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings, and its easy to see why. Climbing the Staircase you could imagine being Sam or Frodo Climbing the mountain to destroy the Ring. There is the option to climb to the summit of Mount Ngauruhoe but there was a little too much snow on there to try so it was off to walk through the South Crater.

There was some mist coming in at this point, so for about 30 minutes there is the barren landscape of the crater with the cloud drifting across the ground. A very strange feeling. It was actually hard to leave the crater, as despite the number of people walking the track it was so peaceful and detached from everything. Freedom?

From the crater there is another climb. Shorter than the last but with ice on the track so a little more treacherous. This takes you along the ridge of the Red Crater and to the start of a side track to the summit of Mt. Tongariro. The guide leaflet we were given warns not to leave the ridge. Those that do go down into the Red Crater don’t come back! Not something you really want to know when balancing on an icy ledge!

Mt. Tongariro’s peak was also covered in snow but the path is reasonably straight forward and I had a couple of hours spare so I took this side track. Thick cloud came in while doing that and it got incredibly cold, but it was well worth the effort and I got to play in the snow! Once at the summit a few minutes wait saw the cloud clear and there were some amazing view over the area.

After retuning to the main track it was time to head down towards the Emerald and Blue Lakes, named for their colours. Lunch was taken by the Emerald Lake before heading onwards through some more snow and past the Blue Lake. This is where the most interesting parts of the walk end, but there’s still about two hours of the track to go through alpine scrub land. Thankfully it’s all down hill, though I still had my bruised ankle from Rotorua, which was fine when climbing but made the descent a bit of a problem but well worth the pain.

Thanks to Heidi who I met on the walk for the company, and there are just too many photos to feature on this posting so go check out The Tongariro Crossing gallery! Tonight is my last night in Taupo, tomorrow it’s back to Auckland before heading to Australia in a few weeks.

First stop was the Kuirau Park, which is a free thermal area and gave a great opportunity to see the center of the earth making its way to the surface through boiling pools of mud and steaming lakes. Then there’s the smell of rotten eggs. For the first day its gets a little annoying, but after that you start to not notice it, although I did have a craving for boiled eggs for the best part of the week!

I also took the opportunity during the week to visit one of the Maori Villages, Te Whakawerawera, which is built over an active thermal area. A guided tour took me round the village and was followed by a performance giving a brief introduction to the culture.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing in a fantastic hostel, Funky Green Voyager. Thanks to everyone I met there, and of course to Yasu for the ‘fish parties’! The most ‘successful’ fisherman in New Zealand!

Oh, also did a mad 40km walk in 7hours round the Redwoods. A forest that give great views over the town and also passed by a couple of lakes. I did a small walk round there at the start of the week, and then decided I should do a full day walk they have. It’s a 32km walk thats supposed to take 8 hours, however I did an extra 8km getting to and from the hostel making the 40km in 7 hours. Madness, and I have a slightly bruised ankle from it – doh!

Photos from Rotorua are here.

Yesterday was a great day. A trip out to white island which is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano! So not only did I get a boat trip, but also to walk on an active volcano.

The trip started with a nice 80 minute boat ride out to the island. The boat is nicely designed so that you can walk all round the outside, so I stood at the front and just enjoyed the journey and views as we approached the island.

Just before you get to the island we were issued with a helmet and gas mask! Once at the island the idea is they take you ashore via a small inflatable. However the direction of the wind was making the transfer difficult as the waves were a little too high, so they had to abandon their normal landing spot and move to a different bay. This meant for slightly calmer water but no real landing place on the island so there was a nice scramble across some rocks. Have to say this made it more interesting and fun for me, but a few people were having difficulties with having to do this.

Once on the island it was time to put our helmets on – required just in case the volcano decides to have a little eruption! The gas masks are optional, and a few people were using them in places as the sulphur in the air got quite thick making for a lot of coughing! Then the crew took us on a tour round the island. The island no longer vents smoke since an eruption a few years back but its a very strange landscape. The sulphur means no vegetation exists, so all you’re left with is a barren landscape with boiling mud in places and steam venting all over.

There’s also the crater lake with a water level that has been rising steadily over the past few years although, for no apparent reason, its recently started to fall! The tour also took in the corroded remains of an old sulphur mine on the island. The acid in the air destroys most things over time!

Once the tour was over it was back across the rocks to transfer to the boat and some lunch (The only disappointing thing about the day was the lunch, very small amounts!). They then sailed round the island before heading back to the mainland. The trip back was much more eventful as we were heading into the wind so waves were crashing over the outside decks of the boat. Impressive to watch!

You do the tour from Whakatane, where I am now. When I got back to my hostel yesterday three very strange Swiss backpackers have moved into my room. They don’t talk to anyone, hardly to each other. They just seem to sit looking at a laptop. One of them, despite being a backpacker who isn’t working or looking for work is dressed in a suit and sleeps in the suit too…