Tussock Grove Boutique Hotel Ohakune

... central crossing place, its also on the thermal highway which means that its right on the geothermal line that runs right through the volcanic zone. As a result of this there are hot thermal pools, boiling mud and geysers around - these along with the maori history all remind me of a kids tv programme I remember watching when I was about 10 that fascinated me and made me think of new zealand as some strange far away land!!! I ...

... for a day of snowboarding. We drive to Tongariro National Park with our boards on the back seat (yeah, we look so cool). The place is famous because it was Mordor in Lord of the Rings. We ski at Mt Ruapehu, which is also a volcano! They stuck evacuation routes in the toilets. My advice would be: ski as fast as you can down the slopes, take your car and ciao! Anyway, as true beginners, we decided it would be best to take an ...

... Rings. Next I came face-to-face with the "Devil's Staircase". I had no idea how hard it would end up being, but let's just say it was named accordingly. That was the toughest part but I was walking with friends of mine, Suzy and Cat and we took our time and stopped for breaks. Another girl, Kari, joined our group and we proceeded up this steep and fairly dangerous hike/ climb up to the summit. At the top you could see a huge red rock formation to the left and three lakes ...

... am besten durchkommt und am wenigsten Wasser ueber bekommt...belohnt wird man dann mit einer etwas rasanteren Vorankommensweise. So kann man sich teilweise zuruecklegen und auch mal die Fuesse in die Sonne strecken...sehr wichtig zur Bekaempfung der hier sehr verbreiteten und viel gefuerchteten Travelerkrankheit: Teva Schatten. Es wird trotzten ein langer Tag und wir kommen erst gegen 18 Uhr an der ersten, mit etwa 30 Personen leider auch total ...

... was definitely worth it. :-) We took a minibus back to the camp and slept really well that night.<br><br>CZ:<br>Ve Wllingtonu pekne foukalo, ostatne jako skoro porad. Jeste stale jsme nevedeli, jestli si muzeme prodlouzit nas pobyt na NZ, a tak jsme se radsi hned vydali smerem k narodnimu parku Tongariro NP, abysme to jeste stihli. Dost jsme se tesili, ale ten den uz jsme to nestihli a museli zaparkovat nekde po ceste. Ukotvili jsme v kempu Mangaweka, ktery nas ...

... Adams (aka Sean Astin's Dad) and he found the whole thing very amusing, including me sitting on the deck with a blanket around me drinking wine - crazy guy!! LOL! Also, at night we could hear the generator for the cabins which was located directly behind ours and sounded like a photocopier which was very funny at first and then led to many grumbles in the middle of the night such as "I wish they would stop bloody ...

... it's time to move on, to the future I must peek, Perhaps all is not lost for the broken-hearted man that is me, After all, Australia beckons, and I am as easy as can be. © Kevin Elop, 2009 Soon to be a Major Motion Picture Starring Tom Cruise Yes, it's time to say goodbye to New Zealand. Our 7 week love affair has ended, but with the promise that we will remain friends. (I really mean it this time, honest!). If you are a regular reader I'm ...

... and the scenery changed again to a lake valley), we realized that we were getting close on time. But we stopped for lunch regardless, and just continued on at a brisk pace. So the last part of the hike was not so nice as we were rushed. But it was easier to walk once we were on the top of the mountains. Once we started going down hill though, but right knee started acting up. This is something I always have to deal with when ...

... 8 years ago was anything to go by, I was going to be a complete and utter disaster. Once again my female intituion proved right. Our first day on the slopes, myself and Emmet ventured down to the beginners "slope" which could best be described as a very, very gentle incline. We were kitted out in all the gear Melika and Nick had lent us, so we looked like the real deal. I was concentrating on having positive thoughts, visualizing myself zipping ...

... smelling a bit and wreathing the whole place in steam or mist. From "Inferno Crater", I took the high route ("Mount Haszard Hiking Trail" [sic]) with higher views and a lot of steps. Unfortunately, while trying to keep my camera semi-dry I dropped my guide leaflet which had the boat ticket stapled to it. Of course, I dropped it at the very top and realised when back down at the very bottom . . . oh well; the exercise is good for me. After that, I went pretty much ...