Tuesday, November 15, 2011

I Got Nothin'
Sunday, November 16, 2011 We hiked the Tongariro Crossing today which was an amazing experience. Tongariro is one of 3 mountains formed from volcanoes and the geothermal activity is still very active. The hike itself started out pretty easy and my friends and I were a bit too cocky, wondering what all the Kiwis had hyped about it being so hard….after a few hours, we soon found out! The estimated hike time was around 8 hours and we completed it just under 6 so we felt good about that, but it was not easy! We started out wearing all our layers of clothes, stripped them down after about 10 minutes of hiking, and slowly but surely went through various levels of dress throughout the hike. The terrain was constantly changing from rocky gravel, to dirt, to snow, to rocks, to sand, and any combination of these. There were parts that were so steep that we had to stare at our feet to not get discouraged about how far we had NOT climbed yet. Once at the top, we had lunch (at least what we could with frozen fingers) and then discovered a hot spot (not the wireless kind, but the literal kind) where you sit on the ground and it's warm. It was quite cozy and much-needed and deserved at that point! Oh, did I mention the views?! They were spectacular! There were so many to choose from—mountains, valleys, lakes, hot spots, etc. I was SO grateful for the borrowed clothing—jackets from Peter, and long pants from one of our tour guides, George. He is quite a handsome fellow and all the girls were a bit jealous that I got into George's pants. J But really, without friends, I would have been cold…and bored. As spectacular as the hike was in and of itself, by far the best part about it was the memories formed with friends. The top two-- pretending to be an "Amazing Race" couple with my friend Chad and "encouraging" each other "pick up the pace and stop embarrassing yourselve", and watching him fall on his arse down the side of the volcano. Oh, don't you worry, it is documented and posted. Good times. Also of note—I ran into THREE people I knew on the hike! The two American girls we gave a ride to in Waitomo and my tour guide from the caves in Waitomo---small world! Towards the end of our hike, we must have miscalculated the time to reach the bottom and began to worry a bit when we hadn't seen any signs of human life for awhile and were somewhere in the middle of the rainforest. We had just come to terms with our guaranteed new label of "leave it to the Americans to get lost" when we reached the parking lot. Our enjoyment was quickly shattered when we realized that we didn't recognize anyone there or see our bus and we had convinced ourselves we had gone wrong somewhere on the path. We were just about to hitch hike back when we finally spotted our offensively-orange-jacketed friend, Jay and were greeted with c old beers and warm hugs. That night, we stayed in a Lodge and everyone was looking forward to the hot tubs promised upon arrival….but one was broken and the other one was luke warm at best. So, instead, we ate cold cereal and chatted all night…all night….and were not happy for the early morning trip to the next stop. This bus trip so far is fun and it's great to meet new people. What's not so great is heading to a new city every day. It's not only exhausting, but impractical. Can't wash clothes because they wouldn't dry in time. Can't buy perishable groceries because we're always on a bus the next day. Don't even want to shower or workout because then you have to pack a wet towel/gym clothes. And let's be honest here, backpackers already smell bad enough, adding moldy/wet smelling articles into the mix doesn't help at all. Wellington So, we arrived in Wellington around 3pm on Monday and everyone was beyond beat. But, having only one night in the city, we put our game faces on and set out to do the necessary grocery shopping and speed sight-seeing (at least what could be seen with limited time and energy). I was lucky and not as concerned since I was staying in Wellington a few days. Being so tired, and tired of traveling, many of my friends decided to change their bus passes to stay a few days as well. None of us thought we were going to be able to because the next bus was full, but luckily, a bigger bus was ordered and we were all able to. Stray, the bus company we're using has its pros and cons; one of the cons being that the so-called "hop on/ hop off" feature of the pass doesn't really work right now because the company is saturated with more tourists than expected and they aren't equipped to handle it. So, if you "hop off" and decide to stay in a city longer, you risk being there a week or longer while you wait for the next available bus. On the Pro side: it's a cheap and mindless way to travel (they have already though about what to see and how to get there so I don't have to) and you meet lots of wonderful friends—people to spend time with, laugh with, share costs of food with, etc. The first night in Wellington, my new Canadian and American friends and I went to Chow Asian Fusion since it was a 2 for 1 Monday night special. It was nice to have "real food" in a civilized atmosphere and it was only $10! We also had gelato on the way back and then a few drinks and games of pool at happy hour in the bar at the hostel. Afterwards, we all hung out in George's room while he sang songs. We said our goodbyes as half of us were heading off early the next day for Queenstown, while others and I were hanging in Wellington a few days (and then to Queenstown where we will reunite). Day 2 Wellington: It was FINALLY a FREE day…in both senses of the word….had NO plans and spent NO money! Spent the day lounging outside at the harbor and enjoying their free wifi and wind (it's called "Windy Wellington" for a good reason!) Saw some tents set up as a protest "Occupy New Zealand" so decided to check it out and….ran into the 2 girls from Waitomo again!!!! What in the heck are the chances of that?! At night, went to the kitchen to make a salad and saw friends eating pizza. Decided to get pizza, and then other friends offered up their pasta so had that instead. And then other friends offered up ice cream…so free dinner and dessert…not bad! Called it an early night and caught up on 3 weeks-worth of sleepiness! Today, I got up when I wanted, had a leisurely breakfast and am now at the downtown library. Enjoying the downtime and looking forward to meeting up with family friends that I haven't seen in a few years for dinner. Sorry for the boring blog…just trying to catch up…again. Miss and love you all but having a blast!!! : ) dani Posted by TravelGirl12 at 4:37 PM

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