3rd of june or thereabouts hello all ...

3rd of June or thereabouts

Pic at Tongariro National Park from www.vnz.co.nz

Hello all readers of my travelog I hope you are still finding this semi-interesting or having a nosey while you should be working. Since it's been a couple of weeks since my last update I've done quite a bit but forgot a lot of it so this is another short update I'm afraid.

After again catching a lift of the English boys in Rosaly I got dropped off in Turangi which I had been told had access to the best one-day hike in New Zealand. Stayed at the Extreme Backpackers which fortunately didn't require me to grow dreads and go BASE jumping though was very new and comfortable so that's a bit of a bargain if you are heading to the area.

Since I had sent home my boots and thermals after Nepal I had to make a pit stop to The Warehouse for some cheap gear, and got a good deal on some decent boots so I was happy. Anyway, Turangi is a tiny place with a shopping arcade and a visitors centre, but around it is some fantastic fishing and hiking. I did the hiking at the Tongariro National Park which takes you up the side of the volcanoes Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. I did the hike with 6 others from the hostel and we took a minibus ride from the hostel (20NZ which was a bit much for a 60min return trip and some tea, but blahblah it was worth it). We luckily had a perfectly clear day on the hills and the recent oncoming of winter had dropped some snow on the upper slopes of the hills so it looked majestic. As we entered the park we were approached by a Department of Conservation official who didn't like the fact we were apparently improperly dressed for the conditions which was fair enough. I had on my cords and no waterproofs so it would have been a bit miserable if it rained, but hey i'll take that risk. I think the fact there was snow on the saddle we would cross meant they would have preferred us to have crampons and ice axes and they were being very cautious as we don't want to die and they didn't want to have to come and carry our frozen corpses of the hillside a couple of days later. It was a bit of a blow to the confidence when she almost laughed at us. Oh dear, we went ahead anyway. My reassurance that I "had a whistle" didn't cut the mustard with her that's for sure. Better safe than sorry I guess is their motto. Anyway, without going into it footstepbystep, the walk is about 7 hours up slopes, over volcanic ash (the mountain Ruapeho had erupted spectacularly a couple of years previously), climbing across icey traverses (sort of) and walking through wide flat volcanic craters covered in snow. It really was fantastic. We stopped for lunch on a well-placed steam vents (good work, Vulcan) and warmed ourselves and marvelled at the views. I'll try and put some pics up, but this spot is definitely work a stop.

Leaving Turangi I caught a lift with English girl Layla who drove me down to Wellington but since it was Queen's Birthday Weekend all the hostels were full so she went to stay with her friends and I went to crash at friends of friends in the student district which was cool. In Wellington I visited the Te Papa museum of New Zealand which is big and modern and pretty good, but I just got a bit bored with it really quickly for some reason. It seems like it's aimed more at children which is good, but I lost interest very quickly. I'm sorry to say I didn't do anything else in Wellington. Oh hang on, I did. I visited the Parliament buildings on a very good free tour with lots of funny anecdotes and great potted history of the government. Since it was holiday monday the MPs weren't in and the place was deserted so we could sit in some of the meeting rooms, decked out with Maori carvings and weavings, and also shown round the main house which almost looked fake, but I guess it's just new after a major refurbishment due to a fire a few years ago. This is definitely worth a look.