So Emmi met me at the rental place to ride back up the hill with me for moral support. Driving on the right side of the car and in the left lane is quite strange at first. Plus the drivers here are crazy. At least in Wellington. The worst part was the roads that go up the hill we live on. They twist and turn, and you can't see other cars coming, and they're typically only wide enough for one car. Not a good combination, but I made it through without a scratch. Just a few curb checks. So we packed up the car and headed up the West coast towards Tongariro National Park. I drove for the first hour until we stopped for some fish and chips, and then Emmi wanted to experience New Zealand driving, so she drove us the rest of the way there. The last two hours or so were in the dark on some really curvy roads. We knew we had to be in some kind of hills, but had no idea what our surroundings were. But the moon was bright and there were tons of stars, and occasionally we would catch the glimpse of the hill silhouettes.
We arrived at the lodge to find that the dorm we were staying in was completely full and co-ed. That was a bit strange, but everyone seemed really nice. We went to bed right away because we had to get up bright and early as the bus was leaving at 7:30 for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. As we pulled out of the parking lot, a huge volcano loomed out in front of us. We definitely did not see that the night before. The bus headed towards the volcano and dropped a load of us off and said a bus will be on the other side to pick you up at 3:30 or 4:30. So we headed out. Now this is a 17 km (10.5 mi) hike through a volcanic area. I had no idea what was in store for us.
Boy was it sunny. Sometimes I couldn't even see where I was walking because it was just so bright. We made it through the first 4km with ease. It was relatively flat land with a few rocks to climb. No sweat. And then it changes drastically.
So the next hill we climbed up, I thought I was going to fall off. The trailed is marked with poles, and the people we happened to be following (there were hundreds of other people doing this hike as well) went the wrong way at one point. They went to the far side of this cliff like area. It wasn't until they were almost all the way over that they realized they had gone the wrong way. I was right in the middle at this point with no one really behind me. Nicole and Mary were at the point that they could still go the correct way. I had the choice of turning around or going forward. I went forward. Bad idea. There was a point where I couldn't really move because there was nothing for me to grab onto. I really thought I was going to fall off. Somehow I made it, and no Mom I did not need to change my underwear. After that hill, we stopped for lunch with just about everyone else on the hike. There was a pretty flat area with tons of rocks to sit on, As we moved on we walked to the ridge and realized there was this other amazing view we had no idea was there.
The only problem with this is that the trails are not even close to being smooth so you constantly have to watch where you are walking instead of looking at the view. At this point we still had about an hour and a half to two hours left. I was over it at this point. I knew there wasn't going to be anything more to look at it, and my body was finally starting to really get tired and really hurt. For some reason the rest of the way down, we had a lot of people run past us. Still can't figure out why. First of all, I can't even comprehend how anybody could physically run at that point and how did they not topple down the hill? My first thought was that maybe they were trying to catch a bus, but after realizing how much further we had to go yet, there was no way they were going to make that bus.
So this whole time there were no trees. On the way down, there were some small trees, maybe they could even be called shrubs, and then out of nowhere we were in a forest. It just popped out of nowhere. Or maybe I was so out of it, I didn't realize it. This trail went on forever and ever. This is where I compared it to The Never Ending Story, and couldn't figure out why it wasn't over yet. And every time we made it down hill some more, we had to go up another hill. Why? Of course I know why. Its the stupid topography, but why did the trail have to go through that particular spot? I don't know if we were all crabby at this point or just me, but none of us were talking anymore. I thought for sure the end was just around the bend, but it never was, at least until it really was the end. I have never been so happy to see a bus in my life. We made the 3:30 bus, and there was still room for all five of us. We did 17km up and down hills in 7.5 hours. I don't know how I am still alive, but I made it! Needless to say, we all passed out on the bus. It was an absolutely amazing adventure, and I am soooo glad I did it, but I will never do it again.
So we got back to the lodge and showered because we all stunk. On our way to find some dinner, we ran into one of Sam's flatmates, who happened to be staying at the lodge we got food at. Small world. We ran into Sam the last time we went on a trip. The rest of the night we hung out in the lounge area and rested our aching bodies. I think we all were asleep just moments after our heads hit the pillow only to wake up even more sore than the day before.
The drive back was nice. We finally got to see what we had been driving through Friday night, and boy was it beautiful. Hills, hill, and more hills, but these hills were green. We even stopped on the side of the road to see a waterfall.
Kia Ora,
Laura
up down up down up down
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