Sat 22.01.11: Tararua Forest to Wellington Thismorning we took a 6km unmadeup track out of the forest and back to the S1 and headed towards Wellington. At the small seaside village of Paraparaumu we took a long coffee and paper reading break in a cafe overlooking the sea, an island and in the distance the tip of South isand. We drove on to Wellington, and because it is ehe weekend benefited from the free parking outside the Botanic gardens. We spent lunch t...

Fri 21.01.11: Te Urewera National Park to Tararua Forest Park via WanganuiThe first part of the drive was through grassland and steep valleys with very shear drops into the river valley. Here the main farming involved sheep, with the occasional deer farm. There were some planted coniferous forests but mostly the land was dry grassland. As we descended towards Wanganui the landscape became more lush and cattle farming became the main industry.We met Loren and the ...

Weds 19.01.11 Rosie Bay to Te Taita A Makoro (Lake Waikaremoana Te Urewera National Park)Last night it blew storm force until the early hours. The sound in the trees across the lake inlet made a noise equal to any roaring of waves. The lake was roaring, but luckily our inlet was for the most part sheltered. The moon was bright between clouds and from time to time it hammered down with rain. Our brilliantly designed tent survived it all with no leaks and no breaka...

Sat 15.01.11 Whakapapa to Napier: Left the camp site this morning around 10am, sandwiches made for the journey.How lucky we were yesterday, today the mountains are covered in cloud right down to about 1300m and the wind is really strong.We are both a little stiff in the leg department today, nothing a drive and a gentle stroll won't cure! We chose to take the scenic route south round the Tongariro National Park, and down to Waiorou and then headed East at Taiha...

Yesterday evening we watched the sun set over Mount Dome (Lord of the Rings Mountain alias Mt Ngauruhoe) from the lounge of Hotel Skotel.Prior to that we passed some time in the lounge of Chateau Tongariro enjoying a little aperitif!!!Once it was dusk we headed along the road to our tent. Packed our rucksacks for the pending walk, made our sandwiches and tucked into our sleeping bags early. It was pretty chilly because we are at 1200m here.Up, breakfasted and awa...