I ♥ Red Crater

Hey everyone. I hope all is well, things are pretty good in New Zealand. As you may have read from my fellow traveller's blog, the weather is not always to our wanting. We planned to start the Tongariro Northern Circuit on December 9th, but it rained all day! We had gotten up at 6:00 and everything, but oh well. That is how things go sometimes. The next day was a success though. We took the shuttle to Magatepopo Carpark and walked from there. First of all, this was my first backpack ever, so I knew it would be a challenge. But I did not know how challenging it really would be. It was alright for the first bit... but then we hit the steps. These steps went up to Mt. Ngharanoe or, more commonly known as Mt. Doom. I kept on thinking we were finished, to round a corner and find some more steps. My backpack was so heavy, I felt so out of shape. I had to stop for breath breaks and everything, it felt pretty miserable. But the view from the almost summit of Ngharanoe was gorgeous. We took a break, then continued. Then we continued upwards, to the base of Tongariro. It was pretty hard work to get there, but worthwhile. We climbed up to the red crater. As you can read, I ♥ Red Crater. It is one of the most gorgeous things I have seen in my life. It is bright red and deep and amazing. Words really don't do it justice. It looked even more amazing contrasted with the beautiful Emerald Lakes below. Right there, all of the tiredness I felt kind-of evaporated. Everything was just so beautiful, it was an out-of-body experience I think. I will remember it forever. We descended down Red Crater and continued on for a bit, finally making it to Ketatahi Hut, where we would spent the night. The views were amazing from there as well. I had just been saying to Bretton, "I feel like I'm surrounded by Germans, there are so many." Then this guy came and we asked him, "Where are you from?" He shrugged and said, "Germany." That was kind of embarassing, I should probably not vocalize my annoyance that everyone is German here on a regular basis. I also had the unfortunate luck to meet a Dutch guy while he was giving himself a sponge bath with barely anything on. That was kind of awkward, not something I hope to remember forever. Also... I had a terrible sunburn on my face. It wasn't sunny for most of the day, so I hadn't bothered, but really regretted it that night. The next day, we planned to go from Ketatahi Hut to Mangetepopo Hut. Pretty much what we walked the day before, except backwards. The weather was amazing again. The way down Red Crater the day before had been fun. Sandy and easy to slide down, but to get back up... that would be hell. We heard about an alternate route, climbing up a ridge of Tongariro and decided to take it. The risk paid off, we had a much easier climb, I believe I slid very little compared to what I would have on the track. Then we climbed up Tongariro. The view was crazy amazing (have you noticed, I've already ran out words to describe what I saw, they just don't do it justice). We sat there for a bit. Ngaranoe is so beautiful. You have to look up pictures, since I am unable to post them. We got to slide down the snow (yes, snow in New Zealand) and hike down for a bit more. When we hit the base of Ngharanoe, we had a long debate of whether or not we should climb it. It would be treacherous. But we could see where Frodo threw the ring in Lord of the Rings! We eventually decided not to, we got pretty good pictures from Mt. Tongariro without killing ourselves, we should end on high note. We hiked down to Mangetepopo Hut, it was nice. The sun was out and we relaxed for a bit. Bretton and I played cards for about three hours. I think we're at a tie right now. We're playing a game called "gin" that the cocky American taught us. We've been playing since Rotorua, keeping a running total. The first to reach 10 000 points get ice cream. It'll be a while, we're only at around 1 500 right now. The hut warden made us popcorn, which was really nice. We played cards until it was too dark, then we went to bed. First thing in the morning, we walked to the carpark and caught a ride back to National Park. There... I took a really really long shower, it had been a while. You don't realize how dirty you are until you're clean, so I feel really good right now. We took the bus to Turangi, we had to wait for a while for our bus to Taupo. We met the Finnish guy, Olli, again! What are the chances, traveling all over New Zealand, we haven't see anybody else more than twice. Three times now! Life is funny sometimes. Now we're in Taupo, staying at this hostel called Rainbow Lodge. It seems like a nice place. Also... I don't have a sunburn anymore, it has faded! I am very happy about that. We're planning some possible skydiving (that is... if they don't ask for ID) and hopefully some beach time. Anyways, my time is running short. Hope I haven't missed anything major. I'll talk to you all soon.