The Tongariro Crossing is reputedly the best one-day walk in the whole of New Zealand, passing through rugged terrain, volcanoes, crystal-jade lakes and snowy peaks. The desolate landscape was chosen to represent Mordor in the Lord of the Rings movies and I thought a 7-hour jaunt through Hell would be a good way to round off my trip. Arising at the crack of dawn, I pulled on my hiking boots over my insect-bitten feet and caught the 6:20 bus to the start of the trail. The last bus would leave at 4:30pm - plenty of time for a fast walker like me. 30 minutes in and I took this snap of Mount Doom aka Mt Ngauruhoe. The bites were rubbing against my boots, but I had no time to itch. I was desperate to lose the pack so I could enjoy this unique wilderness in the pleasure of my own company. In fact, I was starting to get a little too competitive: if I saw anyone catching up to me, I started to double-time it. Needless to say that this strategem was foolhardy and short-lived.