Clearwater Motor Lodge Taupo

... 8211; this is when I started getting really annoyed; I was tired we had already been walking 7 hours! So we walked really fast towards the end, Kiran&#8217;s knees started hurting bad, the downhill was ******* him, I really felt for him. <br><br> Finally 8 hours later we competed the walk, what an achievement. How many people can say they have walked among volcanoes with snow around them? Such an achievement for the both of us. <br>

... The red cross looked after us with blankets, tea, coffee, soup, pies, scones, burgers, biscuits etc! After 4 hours of waiting it came the time for Jon to go and get the car. They did it in sections, transport people by coach to the mountain. As we were at the sumitt near enough we were the last to be transported. the coach couldnt make it all the way so for the last bit Jon got in the back of a police 4x4. <br>Jon dug the car out to ...

We travelled through the some hills, the desert road and <br> finaly arrived to Taupo after a tyring 6 hours drive under <br> gray skies but wondeful snow images (yes, it's still winter <br> here). We got a bit sick because of weather, rain, cold, <br> humidity...<br><br>Time to rest

... I didn't have time to enjoy the scenery as it was motorway driving for a long way. I intended doing a couple of hours and finding a place to stay at Levin. The traffic all drives at a steady 100km per hour and seemed to flow very well, I have heard NZ has a lot of road accidents but as in Christchurch during rush hour travelling they do seem quite well behaved!! This I duly did and it was dark by the time I arrived in Levin. I had had the forethought however ...

... also decended and I was told by the lady that I did not stand much chance of seeing much up there in any case. I got some better advice outside the information hut where a tramper who had overheard told me that if you go to the top of the red crater you can see most of the sights and that it should clear up. She wasn't wrong there. By the time I set off at just after 10 from the road head at ...

... shoe types...I was in the minority with hiking boots) were out there. There's probablly around 800-900 meters of climbing involved. That's pretty hard, but it's spread out and doable and there is more downhill. More importantly, however, it offers major options for the more hard core hiker in the group. My trip up Doom was HARD. I added a little over 700 meters of climbing and it was a 2 and a ...

... that were brilliant fun and it was well worth doing. We also visited the Huka Falls in the jet boat which were pretty spectacular, especially when you get down to water level like we were. It was brill :-) So, after the excitement of the morning we just headed back into the town for some shopping. We got me some new sunglasses as my previous pair had lost a limb (sad, sad day...) and we also got me a pair of Jandals! For those that don't know what these were ...

... En revanche, il y avait énormément de brume, ça c'était un peu flippant... Car ce trek est tracé dans un paysage volcanique, sans végétation, sans vie... Imaginez un paysage désertique, inhospitalier, un paysage lunaire... avec un brouillard qui vous enveloppe comme pour vous conseiller de rebrousser chemin... Mais je n'étais pas seule !! Facilement une centaine de randonneurs ont dû faire ce trek ce jour-là (comme tous les ...

... then set off back into town, noting the strange sight of a 'Legalise Marijuana' campaign bus parked in the carpark of a children's playground! We were forced to linger in Taupo in order to charge our camer for the next day's walk (lacking sockets in the van) and so sat for half an hour in Burger King milking the free refills on a small coke before setting off south at around 6. The drive down the eastern shore of Lake Taupo was stunning as the sun was going down and so we ...

... one of the most active volcanoes (last eruption was 24 Sept 2007). The views were supposed to be as good as the ones that the Alpine Crossing can offer... we have not been disappointed. The views of the valley around with the famous "Lord of the Rings" mount Doom, the walk on the main crater and climbing on ice/snow with crampons and ice axe were an unforgettable experience.