Riverstone Backpackers Turangi

... small basic cabins we typically rent were being renovated at this place so they upgraded us for free. After dinner we soon found out we were not alone in our room. We started to see massive cockroaches behind the pictures on the walls, mirrors, and along the kitchen counter. After complaining and switching to another room, we still had the same problem, but not as bad. The next morning ...

... Have you ever seen anything so barren? So empty? It's glorious!".... I guess I am a desert rat after all So it was up this barren ant hill in a series of never ending steps. I had to take tons of breaks (particularly biting when a 40 year old man with a toddler on his back breezed by me), and I don't think I really thought much for the first to hours except "We're going higher? ... Maybe around this corner...? More steps!.. You get to the end of the steps and and then ...

... perfekt und auch die Emerald Lakes praesentieren sich bei strahlend blauem Sonnenschein wieder einmal perfekt tuerkies. Die unterschiedlichen Farben der Krater decken alle Farbtoene von gelb, orange, rot und braun ab. Durch die ganzen Schwefeldampfenden Quellen geht es dann immer Bergab...nahezu 3 Stunden lang. Nach 19 Kilometern und etwa 8 Stunden steht man dann wieder an einer staubigen Strasse und wird vom Shuttlebus zurueck ins Quartier verfrachtet.

... a seven hour hike through Tongariro National Park. Also, I've been carrying too much luggage throughout the trip because I wanted to look fashionable on the trail... Me: Understandably so... Gary: And so that's been weighing me down a bit. Me: Were you at all surprised about how great my fitness was on the hike today? Gary: No, not at all, I mean, we all know you ...

... if you're interested in useless trivia, is the size of Singapore) was that we were told it had pumice rock floating in it. No sooner had I muttered, "I don't see no stinkin' pumice" when Tracy pointed out a floating rock...very neat (yet again), and we now have several choice pieces in our trunk. I'm already wondering what we're doing dragging rocks along with us on this trip (even if they are light). Somewhere along the way I'll have to teach ...

... this is where the infamous 1954 eruption occurred. We next made our way down the back side of Mt. Tongariro to the Emerald Lakes, which get their color from the abundant sulfur minerals. Before the final accent, we passed through North Crater which was very eerie and desolate. We had one more accent before our final journey down Ketetahi springs. On the way down we had ...

... but when we arrived at the place to rent them the rain got even heavier, so we sacked that off without even getting out of the car. <br><br>It's so frustrating being somewhere with world-class watersports facilities and lovely scenery, yet weather which makes both irrelevant! <br><br>So without further ado we headed further south to ...