A Day of Fantastic Views and Hurting Knees

Just got back from an awesome weekend! It was action-packed, and I am tired and sore…just in time for Monday and another week of school! Oh well, it was worth it (as always!).

Friday after classes, Laura picked up our rental car and I headed over to load in my stuff. We found a rental car place that was not only cheap, but also allowed drivers under the age of 21 for no extra cost. And we were all still covered with insurance, which not all car companies will do here if you’re not at least 21. Fantastic! We all piled into our very nice Camry and headed out for the National Park. Laura, Emmi, Nicole, and Devon joined me on this adventure; we all met through Australearn and the four of us not including Emmi were living together in Rotorua. Party!!

After a few traffic jams, some authentic fish and chips, and some crazy night-time mountain swervy road driving, we made it to the lodge. We were greeted with only a note letting us know which room we were in…no key or anything. Strange? Turns out they don’t bother to lock anything around there, which turned out fine. We walk into our room to find that we are five out of nine…and hey, it’s co-ed! Where are the bathrooms? Well, there’s a single toilet downstairs, but if you want a sink you’ll have to go to the next building. Okey dokey! Besides the lack of showers, sinks, and toilets for the eighteen people in the building, it was nicely set up. There was a decent-sized kitchen and sitting area right outside the two sleeping rooms, so it was easy to make food and to get to know other people. While we were there, we met some more Americans (we’re everywhere!), a Korean man who grew up in the U.S. but now lives in Italy, two Japanese people (but one lives in Vancouver) and assorted others. Interesting stuff.

After a fitful night of half-sleep (the bunk beds were arranged so there was another guy’s feet in my face…), we arose early to prepare for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. After putting on our thermals and subsequent layers, we ate a quick breakfast and headed out on the bus. The bus ride immediately showed us what we had driven through the night before, but hadn’t been able to see…lots of mountains!! I was super excited already, and we were only on the bus. Hooray! We arrived and were dropped off right outside the wonderful bathroom facilities at the beginning of the Crossing. Although there were only a few bathrooms available along the 17km track, I passed…on them all. If you had been there and smelled them, you probably would have as well. So we started our trek at the bright and early hour of 8AM. The sun was shining and it was going to be a great day!

…Then we got to the first hill. It was rough, to say the least. We had to stop and rest at the top for a while and get a little more food into us. Then we looked at where we were headed….a much longer, steeper hill. Oh man. Emmi and Devon soon pulled ahead of the rest of us less athletically inclined (I was last 95% of the trip). It was a killer hill. Once we finally topped it…there was another hill. Is there no rest for the weary?! Honestly, if there had been an option to turn around, I might have taken it. As Devon said, it was a good thing that we had been climbing the hills in Wellington for a few weeks. If not, it would have been even worse (which is kind of hard to imagine). Of course, as I’m climbing, my small bit of brain activity remaining is saying “but now all the hills in Wellington will seem so easy!” Highly doubtful. I have yet to test the theory, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will struggle up the hill back home…probably more so in the next few days while I’m still sore.

But to make up for the hills, there were some pretty awesome views. Someone we met along the way described it as a kind of moonscape, and I would agree. It was barren, and yet beautiful. Instead of looking at trees and foliage, we were looking at bare rock, craters, and volcanoes. But in the distance beyond the close up reds, browns, and blacks, you could see the distant mountains among the clouds. It was definitely other-worldly. It was almost as if we had been transported to Mars, but could see Earth and its familiarity off in the distance. Crazy!

After the worst of the mountain climbing was accomplished, we stopped for a lunch break. Much needed!! We only had one small hill left to climb, from the looks of it. Once we reached the top, we could look down at two brightly colored thermal pools as well as a shining lake in the distance. So awesome! And then, we had to climb down the hill. Let’s talk about the climbing conditions. There is no paving of any kind, just some poles to point you in the right direction. Loose gravel is the majority of the climbing material for the first half of the hike, which means slipping and sliding all over the place. Although it was problematic on the climb up, it was deadly on the way down. The only way to not slip and slide all the way to the bottom was to dig your heels into the pebbles, allow them to enter your shoes, and skid a little before taking another step. It was dangerous and slow work. I managed to make it almost all the way down with no mishaps, and even was able to stop and take a picture for an Italian guy (I had to re-take it since my first attempt didn’t meet his standards…boo hoo). After reaching the bottom bit, I became too cocky and my feet slipped out from under me. Nothing but a sore butt and some rock ingrained in my palm were the results of my fall, luckily. But I got to dig it out later that day with tweezers, which was an adventure.

With one more hill to climb to the lake we had seen earlier before descending towards the thermal pools, we confidently began our trekking again after a few photo ops by the thermal pools. We rounded the corner of the mountain we had climbed and the crater we had slip-n-slided down into, and began our descent. Our long, painfully long, descent. Even though the view was amazing, it was the same one for the last three to four hours. And we were just zig-zagging back and forth across the mountain’s side, working our way down slowly. We eventually reached a more plant-friendly area, which was a little strange after no plant life all day. After we had adjusted to that, we descended further into the native bush, which basically looks like a jungle. Thinking we were close, we pounded on ahead without any breaks…then we saw the sign saying “only 1.5 hours to go!” Ugh. But we powered through, and after what seemed like an endless amount of time, arrived in the car park. Hooray! The bus from our lodge was there, and had room for all five of us. Mission complete, in only seven and a half hours. It was an absolutely draining experience, but I’m glad I did it. You won’t see me rushing back anytime soon, though. Devon recommended a “reunion tramp” in thirty years, when we all have recently turned fifty. I don’t know if fifty-year-old me could handle it, especially since twenty-year-old me almost couldn’t handle it! But you never know…by then I will have forgotten all the hard parts and just remember the fantastic scenery and the funny stories. This must be how our minds trick us into repeating experiences that were not totally enjoyable, just partially so.

After all of us admitted to falling asleep on the bus ride back to the lodge, we showered (a wonderful experience, let me tell you!), and changed into clean clothes. After creatively finding ways to hide our clothes from the day, which were beginning to get close to the “toilets on the trail” smell, we found some food and did some hardcore lounging for the rest of the day. Definitely slept better that night (and the guy with the feet wasn’t there either!).

This morning, we arose early-ish, around eight. And by “arose,” I mean “all sat up and groaned for the next ten minutes as we attempted to get out of bed.” Talk about sore. The worst things for me are my upper back and shoulders (from my backpack) along with my knees (which took a beating from the stairs we had gone up and down during parts of the hike). After starting off around nine, we stopped to see some waterfalls along the way, and it was my turn to drive the second half home. Hooray! It wasn’t even really that disconcerting to be on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road. No problems! Except the turn signals were on the left side of the steering wheel…I did better than the rest until I got flustered and goofed up, setting off the windshield wipers. As I was driving the second half, I missed out on the windy mountain driving, and instead got the experience of driving in the city center of Wellington. Not fun. Not only do I not enjoy driving in cities, we also were unsure of where we needed to go, since we take so many pedestrian shortcuts. Eventually, we made it to our destination: the grocery store!! And the big one all the way downtown. We were taking advantage of the trunk and not having to lug groceries up the hill.

After finally arriving back, unpacking groceries, banishing the dirty and stinky clothes to the wash, and taking a shower in order to truly feel clean, here I am laying on my bed typing this up. Once again, my experiences in the lodge have taught me to not take my own room, my own bed (which isn’t bunked), my house and having a bathroom, sink and shower only a few doors away…for granted. Now if only I didn’t have to do all my homework readings for class tomorrow, I would be really pumped. But alas, I must be off to read about the wonders of yoga for my religion class. Perhaps they’ll have some good tips for shoulders and knees!

NZ Week 5: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=627468&id=597595706&l=32353c077f