Up at 5:30 in the morning to head to National Park so some of the group could make the Tongariro Crossing in time. This is supposed to be one of the most scenic hikes in New Zealand however you need to start early to get back before dark! We had decided that it wasn't for us………….and as it turned out it didn't happen for anyone on our bus. There were quite a few that wanted to go however the weather closed in and not long after leaving Blue Duck we got the call that the crossing groups were not going today…too dangerous ,ah well we'd just have to have a relaxing day instead!!

We took a walk round the ski fields in the Tongariro National Park but it was really windy and bloody freezing so we didn't last long! We checked out the Volcano Centre which was class and had video footage of Mt Ruapehu eruption in 1995 - pretty scary considering it was still active and we weren't too far away from it! Some of the group decided they wanted to go to Gollums Pool from the Lord of the Rings Movie but seen as we aren't fans we opted to stay on the warm bus and leave the nerds to it haha!!

An extremely relaxed afternoon followed with some food and an extended nap being the main events! That night however was far from relaxed. The atmosphere had been building in the bar all day the All Blacks were taking on Australia in the tri-nations and despite living in Australia for 6 months we were firmly rooting for the All Blacks - we were in NZ….we're not stupid!! There were a few Aussies in the bar and they took some serious abuse but they took it well considering they got well and truly stuffed - a great result for us Kiwis!!

We said our good byes to our second group on the Stray Bus - they were heading south where we had already been so it was a day by ourselves in National Park. It was an extremely lazy day. The constant moving was exhausting us so we took a day off and stayed in bed sleeping which turned out to be about the best thing to do because the weather that day was horrendous!! We got to Skype home that evening which was good to get speaking to home again - it's getting closer and closer now until we are back - less than 2 months to go!!

Craig and Laura =)