The trek started before 8am. We had spent the night freedom camping (camping for free) on the side of the road in a little area surrounded by bush, sand and cows that mooed all night. We bundled up (as the nights are getting colder) and we enjoyed a spaghettie bolognese (that Jordan cooked up on the cooker) shared a can of coke and looked at are view of the moon rising over Mt. Tongeriro and Mt. Doom (the volcanoe where Lord of The Rings was filmed). After we ate Jordan pulled out his guitar and then we all curled up in our camper around 11 as we had a huge day the next day.
We grabbed a shuttle from Base Camping Grounds and headed towards the volcanoes. On the shuttle they basically told us ``it may rain and get cold today. If it is looking cloudy to not attempt Mt. Doom stay on the Tongeriro track. If you miss your shuttle we will not come back for you, we will send a search party. enjoy your trek`` in other words ``we are not dumb enough to do this ourselves. We will wait for you with our coffee on the other side. Best of luck!`` Right. So we begin. The first hour there wasn`t much to see, a lot of rock around us and two huge volcanoe`s infront of us waiting to see if we could make it. I love walking but after the first hour I was getting really tired and we still had the Devils Staircase ahead of us. Whats that you ask? Exactly what it sounds like...I really believe the Devil himself built this staircase! Not joking! The guys wanted to do Mt. Doom (due to my vertigo I was told not to do it as it is pretty high and narrow up there) so we divied up the food and off they went. They had to make it there by 9:15 or they wouldn`t be able to do it. I looked up at the Devil and thought there was no way the guys were gonna make it up there in 15 minutes but I didn`t have to worry as I was going to go at my own pace and enjoy a day on my own. Besides after this bout of stairs it should be smooth sailing. HAHA OK! The volcanoe is very deceiving, every time I got to the top (or rather what I thought was the top) I would look ahead and see more and more staircase. All I wanted to do was turn around, I was tired and hungry and it wasn`t even close to noon yet. WILL THIS EVER END?!? I kept going...1. I wanted to do it 2. I didn`t want to write a blog about me not doing it lol sad but true. I stopped to take pictures of the view, I even tried taking pictures of me with a nice background but that didn`t last very long. I ended up meeting Maddie...a Canadian backpacking with her friends. We ended up trekking the whole day together THANK GOD!!! I don`t know if I could`ve lasted the whole day by myself lol...it was treacherous and not easy. We sat down and ate lunch and as I looked a head I saw that we hadn`t even reached the summit yet. I looked behind me...clouds had almost completely engulfed all of Mt. Doom...I knew the guys had gone that way so I was hoping they were ok. I knew how the weather could change up this high, on top of all the layers I had put on in the morning(shorts, leggings, joggers, 2 tank tops, long sleeve shirt, sweater, hoodie and vest) I had to put on my windproof water jacket as it was getting windy and a little rainy.
My legs were killing me, at one point I looked at Maddie and said ``Gandolf better be waiting for me when I get to the top.`` She looked at me really wierd giggled and said ``ummm ya ok`` (finding out later she had never seen nor knew that Mt. Doom was from LOTR and thought I was just really weird haha). We finally reached the summit at about noon...though cloudy and a bit rainy it was really beautiful. You could see Red Crater, the Green Lakes (which the smell brought me back to Rotorua-sulphur) and there was another Lake that I can`t remember the name. We started heading down at this point which wasn`t as easy as I thought. My vertigo kicked in a little as I could see everything infront of me including how high I was and I could feel my feet starting to blister. An hour after the summit and a little ways down the hill we got to a toilet point where we could relieve ourselves and sit down on some benches and take a break. Not thinking we had much more to go I felt a little more positive which soon faded. Once again the volcanoe was deceiving. Everytime we thought we were almost at the bottom there was more rock to be walked down. Our feet were blistering and it was hurting. We finally hit the forest. What a nice change of scenery and really beautiful. Green foliage everywhere with little water falls and rivers....yet it never seemed to end. At this point I had undid one of my hiking boots halfway because my ankle was in so much pain. ``Can you see the light`` I would call to Maddie ``this thing goes on forever`` she would say. ``I swear that sign said only 45 minutes`` ``how long has it been?`` ``an hour`` even the forest was deceptive. Finally we could see the car park. With sore feet and aching bodies we walked to the waiting area exhausted but proud of ourselves for surviving the day. The boys showed up about 10 minutes after we did. They didn`t make it all the way up Doom because the weather got too bad so they had to turn around.
That night we stayed at the same hostel as Maddie and her friends. The boys stayed in the camper and I paid the extra money to sleep in a bed though I tossed and turned all night. The next day we headed our way down to Wellington.
This is where my adventure changes. I am no longer with the guys. I parted ways with them in Wellington. They were staying there for a about 5 days and I wanted to head over to the South. I loved my 10 days with them but I really needed some me time, so that night they dropped me off at the YHA in Wellington where I joined Maddie and her friends. So we grab some drinks and drank down in the common room at about midnight Maddie and I decide to go out to the bar...and go out to the bar did we ever. We met some locals the hostel bar who took us to another bar that served till about 530 in the morning. We had to be up at 630 to catch the shuttle that was taking us to the ferry. It was a really messy morning. Half drunk and no sleep we barley made the shuttle, we couldn`t stop laughing. When we checked in our bags for the ferry, who backpack and sweater were covered in PBnJ due to the attempt at making toast for breakfast. We got to sleep on the ferry thank god though the bouncy waves were not making me feel much better. Unfortunatley I did not see much or take any pictures of the ferry ride...I heard it`s beautiful but I was enjoying the back of my eyelids too much to really care. We parted ways in Picton (ferry landing) as we were both on different buses but were staying at the same hostel so were going to see eachother that after noon in Nelson.
Ahhh Nelson...my most favourite place. I don`t know what it is about Nelson really but I didn`t want to leave there. To be honest nobody did...people would show up at the hostel for a night and ended up staying 6 months. The hostel itself I fell in love with. Paradiso - an old house turned into a hostel with the most comfortable beds, some having lofts to make more bed space, tv room with loft, a little motel out the back with more rooms, tents, teepees (yup teepees) hot tub, pool, sauna, a huge kitchen with about 5 stoves a ton of tables where everyone hung out, a smaller kitchen around the side with two tables and out door tables, hammocks, free breakfast, a pack of noodles when you check in, soup and bread everynight (they get the bread from the local bakery everynight when it closes) and too top everything off everynight at 1030 (because its in a residential area) you either have to go inside OR go on the bus. Yup the bus. Its a big green bus from the 70`s that is parked at the back by the pool where everyone parties at night and plays the biggest game of Jenga I have ever seen. It was crazy. I never wanted to leave this place. It was homey and comfortable and had a great vibe.
My whole reason for going to Nelson was because I wanted to hit up Abel Tasman National Park. I had to be up at 7 the next morning to catch the shuttle ( I almost didn`t make it because I don`t have an alarm) and then we took a water taxi over. I was with two English girls (Katie and Rosie) from the hostel. Both the shuttle and water taxi were beautiful, mountains and ocean everywhere you looked. We got dropped off at a beach with gold sand surrounded by hills and rock. I looked out as the boat drove away. It almost felt like we were being deserted on an island lol. The beach was pretty much shaped like a culdisac almost making it seem like we were closed off from the rest of the world...I kind of felt like Leo in the movie The Beach. Man it was so breath takingly beautiful out there. The sands were of a yellowy gold color and the water was the greenest of greens. I just wanted to pitch a tent and stay there forever.
Before hitting the path up the mountain we went and played on some rocks snapping pictures and taking in the view. The trek was really nice (nothing like Tongeriro) and the views we had were breathtaking. About midday we hit another beach on the way for lunch. We walked down a hill and over some rocks and came out onto this beautiful gold sanded beach with a huge rock mountain wall to our ride that curved around and kept going down a straight part of the beach. We sat down pulled out our food and enjoyed our food and beers that Rosie had brought. I was like a big kid, waiding in the water, collecting shells as well as granite rock - tres cool. I so wish I had donw a few days at Abel Tasman rather then 1. It wasn`t enough. I really wanted to camp out so I could enjoy a full day of the beach and the little rivers and waterfalls in the forest. I can`t even explain how much of a great day it was and how beautiful it was (to me) I`m actually at a loss for words about the beaches, so all I can say if you ever have the chance go see it for yourself. I loved it sooo much...probably one of my favourite days in NZ.I left Nelson this morning at 720am and headed in the Intercity bus to Punakaiki - West Coast. The ride was nice. They give you a bit of a history of the scenery and have a stop for breakfast and two pee stops. Now I am sitting in the common room at the hostel Beach Hostel listening to the waves of the ocean outside. I can walk to it, its 30 seconds away. The hostel is cute, very quiet, I don`t think there is more then 15 of us here. It`s raining so the weather is a little shitty but we were watching dolpins play out in the waves about 20 minutes ago. So it is just me now...traveling solo. I miss the guys a bit, it was nice having a bit of a consistancy as I am meeting new people everyday and it`s hard to keep track or really create any sort of relationship...plus when driving I don`t get to stop for photo ops anymore lol, but I really am loving the time to myself.
The drive here was so beautiful. I tried snapping shots in the bus but its hard when its moving through the mountains and surrounded by trees. Its endless miles of ocean with random rocks jutting out and mountain cliffs along the coast. When we were driving through the hills I couldnt tell if it was mist our clouds that was sourrounding all the mountains. I barley ready my book because I just wanted to take in all the scenery (and I left my glasses in Nelson so reading is going to be fun - I called and the Canadians are going to keep them until we meet up again).
Well I am guessing this is enough lol. I have caught up on all my picture albums now...this blog will go with the pictures of Mt. Tongeriro and Mt. Doom, Wellington pics and all the Abel Tasman ones. Hope you all are well and I will post again soon.
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