Strawberries on Tour

Hey, it's me again ;)

My last report was about the first Stray experiences and my time in Rotorua. And that's where I'll pick up now. After three days in 'Fabulous Rotovegas', it was Stray Time again on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday, 13.10.

My travel group, or the Straybies as we tourists from Stray are lovingly called, was very international again this time, with a large number of Irish people on the bus, including the bus driver Kookie (yes, his name is Kookie and not Cookie ;)) ). By the way, there was confusion because there were three Germans named Max on the bus and also a Dane named Mads. The Irish people kept the mood high the whole time. They had a lot to talk about, sang beautiful Irish songs in between, and even played the piccolo flute. After a short visit to the Huka Falls, where the especially bright, almost ice-colored blue was something extraordinary to see, the next stop was the Kohutapo Lodge at Lake Aniwhenua. It is run by Maori, just like the Marae in Mourea. As soon as we arrived, our hostess welcomed us with a real torrent of words, full of energy and joy of life. There are also animals there, including deer, a goat that does a super funny dance from time to time. After sitting by the lake with a few people to enjoy the beautiful view and get to know each other a bit, we played a small volleyball game, mainly with Germans, Irish people, and Dutch people, some of whom were also in the group. Unfortunately, our team lost, but it was still a fun game. You could occasionally tell that I usually play soccer because I played a few balls - more or less successfully - with my head, which is actually unusual in volleyball ;) After that, we sat together above the lake again and waited for dinner, a Hangi Dinner, where the food is buried for 2.5 hours while an open fire underneath provides the cooking. For 'variety', there were various meats and potatoes again, but since I like both very much, I don't mind that they serve it here all the time. I'm especially fond of the sweet potatoes :) For dessert, we had cake with ice cream. I settled for a total of six plates. After dinner, we stayed up longer because we wanted to wait until Richard from Scotland could celebrate his 30th birthday at midnight.

Friday, 14.10.

At midnight it was finally time and Richard was in the spotlight. To celebrate, everyone who was still awake had to sing a folk song or the national anthem of their country, as well as a birthday song in their native language. So we heard Het Wilhelmus (Netherlands), Der er et yndigt Land (Denmark), the French Marseillaise, and an Irish folk song. Another Max and I also sang our anthem. Richard, as the birthday person, doesn't particularly like The Flower of Scotland, one of my absolute favorite hymns, for some reason, and instead started singing the famous folk song Loch Lomond, which many Germans might know from the football anthem 'Mer stonn zo dir FC Kölle' ;)

After the morning celebrations and a not too long night, we continued to a local school, which is special because it is a Maori school attended by children of all ages and ensures that the tradition of the indigenous people is not lost. Most of the children are Maori, but not all of them. We were greeted in the gymnasium (by the way, we were not allowed to enter closed rooms with shoes) by a Haka performed by all the students together. A very warm welcome! After that, we got to spend time with the youngest children, playing games with them. We could paint, craft, build, and much more. I decided to build a geometric figure with Mikado sticks and clay, which worked quite well, even though I was not an artistic genius in school :D The children were all very cheerful and open, and it was fun to be with them. It was nice to be a child again for an hour :) Then we continued to Taupo, where part of the group was supposed to go skydiving (which I did not book), but unfortunately, it had to be canceled due to the weather. So we had a longer break in Taupo and also passed by a golf island in the middle of the sea. From the shore, you have to try to hit one of the holes, which, as expected, I did not succeed in doing. Two people in our group came close, but narrowly missed getting a hole in one. The distance was about 80m. After picking up a few new group members, we drove through the mountainous and unfortunately very rainy Tongariro National Park on an extremely bumpy road, which was not paved for the last kilometers, to the Blue Duck Station Whakahoro, which has a proud population of 8 permanent residents but hundreds of animals. The landscape there is fantastic. There are mountains with lush green meadows where sheep and cows graze. There are also pheasants and horses. However, there is no WiFi. After dinner, where I once again ate way too much (five plates), we had the 'real' party for Richard, with cake, marshmallows, chocolate, chips with dip, plenty of drinks, and lots of fun. I had some really interesting conversations with some of them about their previous travel experiences or cultural peculiarities of their countries. Unfortunately, a few people overdid it with alcohol and got quite drunk. But that didn't spoil the mood :)

Saturday, 15.10.

Since Whakahoro is one of the few 2 Night Stops with Stray, we spent the whole Saturday there. When we arrived, we could sign up for four different activities: clay pigeon shooting, goat hunting, off-road safari, and horseback riding. Despite having no experience, I chose horseback riding. In the morning, we went to the stable and got on the horses there together with Linnea, Isabelle (both from Sweden), Catrin (Wales), and Annemarie and Barbara from Germany. So I got to ride a horse for the first time. Before that, we were put in somewhat unusual, but very warm and waterproof coats and had to put on a helmet. I somehow felt a bit like in Lord of the Rings with the clothing :D Riding with my horse Courageous went surprisingly well. Occasionally, I was still a bit unsure, but overall, everything went fine. We constantly went uphill on extremely muddy paths and were rewarded at the top of a relatively high mountain with a spectacular view over the huge valley. There we also got off our horses for a photo session and took a short break. Then it went mostly downhill, sometimes very steep. But all the horses did a really good job, and after about three hours of riding, we all arrived back at the stables. Unfortunately, I had a moment of shock when I went to get my backpack from the stables, as I didn't want to take it with me while riding. When I went to get it, it was completely torn open and wide open on the floor. There can only be one explanation for this. A dog must have opened the zipper after smelling the ham sandwich. I had bought bread with ham and onions specifically for these two days. 300 grams. This dog must have eaten it all! So not only was my breakfast for the next day gone, but also my lunch for that day. Luckily, two very kind fellow travelers donated some of their food to me :) Since it wasn't too late yet, I used the hours until dinner for a long walk to a waterfall. On the way there, I passed some kind of old-timer meeting taking place at the main building, with a few older cars and tractors. They were nice, but not spectacular. I just thought it was funny that something like this was happening in the middle of nowhere. I was on the road for a total of two hours, unfortunately, the path was extremely muddy. The waterfall wasn't mind-blowing, but it was quite pretty to look at. To see it, I had to climb onto a rock in the middle of the river. It was quite exciting to look up at the waterfall, which then came rushing towards me. In the evening, I was in the common room and spent some time with the others before dinner, where I once again indulged myself since four people gave me their dessert ;) This time, like most others, I went to bed relatively early because we had to get up at 5:15 the next morning.

Sunday, 16.10.

The reason we had to leave so early was that the legendary Tongariro Alpine Crossing was scheduled for Sunday, probably the most famous one-day hike in New Zealand, covering 19.4 km with a difference in altitude of about 800m (1100-1900). Accordingly, the vegetation and the climate in the different sections are also different. After our clothing was checked and we were driven to the starting point by a shuttle, we started with a rather barren alpine landscape, you could also say Tundra. The weather was cloudy but dry and not too cold, although I was glad to wear a hat. On the edge of the path, which was well-built at the beginning, a small mountain stream ran, and after about 2km, we came to a waterfall, although it was a bit off the path. After that, the ascent became noticeably steeper. We constantly climbed up several stairs leading through rocks, and soon there were the first traces of snow beside the path. The snow became more and more and the visibility worse. Not to mention that it got colder and windier the higher we went. There was no longer a visible path on the following plateau (only poles were set up for orientation) and about 2/3 of the ground was covered with snow. You could only see about 25-30m. And then it came, the final mountain to the highest point. It became really steep, the whole ground was full of snow, and in some places, ropes were stretched, which you could hold on to and climb up. It was really tough to get up there! Especially since it was so cold and stormy the whole time. But then, at the summit, relief came: the sun slowly came out and revealed a beautiful valley view, with mountains all around and with the 'Emerald Lakes', three shimmering blue-green lakes, which were certainly the most beautiful part of the whole crossing. The crazy thing was that as soon as the sun was displaced by a cloud, you couldn't see anything at all. Anyway, I took my lunch break at the lakes and met some of our group who had gradually reached the summit and were now arriving at the viewpoint. After the quite steep descent from the summit, we crossed another snow-covered meadow and climbed another not-so-high mountain before I stood in front of a beautiful lake again, with mountains in the background. This lake had a very clear blue, unlike the Emerald Lakes. From this point on, it was mostly downhill. The last traces of snow were gone pretty quickly, and soon I stood in front of a huge tundra area with Lake Taupo in the background. We went downhill through the tundra in switchbacks until more and more trees appeared and I finally arrived in a warm, almost subtropical forest, through which the last 2-3 km led. After visiting another waterfall, I arrived at the finish at 14:05, so after 5:25 hours, together with one of the Irish groups. In the finish area, the remaining members of our group gradually arrived, and of course, also other hikers we didn't know. Two of us managed to complete the whole crossing in 3.5 hours. Respect! The problem was that the bus didn't leave for National Park Village until 16:20, so we had to wait at the finish the whole time, even after the last member of our group of 27 arrived right on time at 16:00. But then, with a free cold drink provided by the bus driver for all of us, we went to our hostel, the Pukenui Lodge. There we had a nice evening in the huge and incredibly cozy common room (with a fireplace and armchairs) with table tennis, where I unexpectedly won a few rounds - but also lost several very clearly - and a goat curry made from the goats that were shot during the goat hunt in Whakahoro. It was incredibly delicious. During dinner, someone from Ireland even directly invited me to visit, so I already have a next destination when I get back ;) I saw photos of Ireland's landscapes that I found absolutely stunning. After a few hours at the hostel, Kara, Miriam (both from Ireland), Mads (Denmark), Isabella (Sweden), Cooper (USA), Thies, Max, Max (all from Germany), and I went to the pub, which is only a few meters away from the hostel. There, we had some drinks and then played pool billiards. We actually wanted to play a tournament, but the pub closed relatively early, so everyone could only play one game. Unfortunately (or luckily, depending on how you look at it ;) ), I only got to play one full attempt because my opponent Thies pocketed the black ball directly with the second shot, so I was the winner without really doing anything :D After that, we continued playing table tennis and sitting together until I went to sleep.

In the next report, you will find out what else I experienced in Tongariro National Park. I will also take you to Wellington before the temporary return to Auckland. I hope you're looking forward to it!

See you soon,

Your Max