11 New Zealand - Into the Thick of It

प्रकाशित: 22.03.2018

समाचारपत्रस्य सदस्यतां गृहाण

After a week and a half, we are now reaching the attractions that New Zealand is famous for and that will also be our biggest adventures here.
One of them is the popular Tongariro Crossing that we endured yesterday, let's say. A day hike of 7-8 hours with a lot of elevation gain through alpine mountain landscapes consisting of partially active volcanoes. The weather forecast was 7 hours of sunshine plus light clouds. Unlike predicted, the day began with taking down the tent at 6 am in the pouring rain. This then paused for a few hours and started again early in the afternoon. The views were unfortunately rare, but one could imagine how beautiful the mountain landscapes must look in the sunlight.

The cog like the ark on the summit of the mountain.

At the summit ridge, the Emerald Lakes which are turquoise colored by the sulfur that is being released.

Yeah, done it. Pretty wet and frozen with a lot of anticipation for a warm shower.

The next highlights and challenges will be 3 of the Great Walks, multi-day hikes, that we have chosen.

The first of these 'Walks' will start tomorrow, called Whanganui Journey and is a 3-day canoe trip of 100 km length through almost untouched nature. We are a bit nervous because the weather forecast is pretty bad, meaning lots of rain. We will probably change our plans from camping to huts, as things can dry better overnight. :-)

The preparations are in full swing.

We are packing supplies, waterproof clothing, and spare clothes into 6 hopefully waterproof barrels.

The North Island of New Zealand is half on the Australian-Indian Plate and half on the Pacific Plate. Along this Ring of Fire, we have been exploring the volcanic activity around Taupo and Rotorua for the past few days.