Taupo, Mordor, and the Christmas Elves

With a heavy heart, we leave our cozy Funky Green Hostel in Rotorua and hop on the Intercity Bus to Taupo. During the ride, we pass by many meadows, cows, and sheep until we arrive at Lake Taupo and start looking for the Haka Lodge, our home for Christmas. The hostel is quite big, but it looks nice. There is a beautiful terrace with a lake view in the main building, but we actually live in the adjacent building. Just like everywhere else in New Zealand, we mostly hear German here. Apparently, all the high school graduates from our home country are currently in New Zealand. We find that annoying.

Anyway, today is already December 24th. The New Zealanders don't really care because Santa Claus only comes on the 25th here. However, there are many elves, reindeer, and Santas around us because apparently, it's trendy to dress up during the Christmas season. Understandably, there is no carnival here.

Only two residents are not in the Christmas spirit: us. Surrounded by 18-year-old teens, beer-drinking elves, and selfie-taking reindeer, we somehow feel out of place. In the evening, we treat ourselves and cook a curry. For dessert, we have speculoos, at least some Christmas pastry. Next year, we will celebrate at home again. With lots of GLITTER and DECORATIONS and tons of COOKIES (quoting Lisa).

To boost the mood, the lodge staff announces that we cannot do the long-awaited alpine hike, the Tongariro Crossing, tomorrow because the weather is too bad. Storm, rain, and fog make the ascent impossible, great. We change our plans in the hope of being able to hike on the 26th.

December 25th - Merry Christmas! It's gray and rainy, and the temperatures are similar to those in the Rhineland, where Lisa wishes she could be right now. However, the first step of the day is going to the hospital because Lisa is feeling worse. But before she can speak to anyone, 100 dollars must be paid. Step 2: The nurse asks questions, so does the doctor, but no examination is done because the labs are on Christmas vacation. Lisa randomly gets an antibiotic and then gets discharged. The hospitals in Peru and Bolivia were dreamy compared to this. At the moment, we can't do much more.

Hasi, our acquaintance from Pforzheim, has also booked a stay in the lodge with us. The three of us stroll through Taupo and walk along the lake. In the evening, we find out that the hike for tomorrow is possible and book a spot in the shuttle.

December 26th in the morning: We drive to the end point of the hike to catch the shuttle from there to the starting point. That's how it works here, otherwise, it would be for free. The scenery is already beautiful, huge glaciers on the horizon, and endless meadows and open space in front of them.

Then we start - we get off and are greeted by strong winds. Well bundled up, we start the hike towards Mordor, along the famous Mount Doom. The weather is not bad, but it is a bit hazy from time to time, but that's probably how it's supposed to be (sunshine and Mordor don't really go together?). We go up and down stairs, over small streams, past grotesque rock formations. The higher we climb, the more the wind blows against us, we can almost lean against it. When we reach the highest point of the hike, we look down at two small lagoons with shimmering turquoise water. There is quite a bit of steam and the familiar smell of sulfur rises to our noses. Behind the two small lagoons, there is another large one, the colors are amazing!

Now the descent begins along a long, winding path that slopes evenly down the hills. By now, we are not as bundled up because the sun is coming out more and warming us up. The last part of the hike leads through dense jungle, with green ferns, thickets, and small streams everywhere you look. After seven hours, we did it, and yes, we are a bit tired. But the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is definitely one of the most beautiful hikes we have ever done.

Back at the hostel, we can already feel our buttocks and leg muscles, yes, we did something. Now the three of us look as if we had dressed up for Christmas because our noses are almost as red as Rudolph's.