New Zealand: Week Three

The weather for the Tongariro Crossing couldn't have been better. Clear blue skies allowed us to see Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom in LOTR) for the first time. Our trek would lead us to the side of the summit and down the otherside. The crossing was amazing, a real mixture of landscapes, ranging from bush to snowy tracks. Coming off the summit was an interesting experience as the path wasn't particularly wide, and was more of a death-slide than anything else. At times the path disappeared to be replaced by a partial ice flow. One false move and I would have held the record for the fastest descent. Past the summit brought Lake Taupo into view (which I'd sky-dived over the week before... did I mention that by the way!?). By the end of the trek, the cloud had started to cover the peak of the mountain creating a particularly atmospheric effect.

The following day we headed for Wellington. Although surprisingly small for the capital, there was enough to keep us entertained for a few days and it had a good atmosphere. I actually prefered it to Auckland as it was more compact. And it had an amazing tea shop. Enough said really. We stayed at Base Backpackers, and spent most evenings in the bar downstairs (where there was cheap beer). We went to the Botanical Gardens up the hill and had a good view over the city.

Leaving Wellington we took the Interisland Ferry over to Picton, the entrance to the South Island. The coast heading into Picton consisted of quiet small beaches and bays, in between lush green mountains. Picton itself was tiny considering it's the main port for the south island. We headed straight to Abel Tasman National Park. We spent a full day sea-kayaking which was good fun for the first 3 hours. After this, we managed to get lost, then lose the map in the sea. After 7 hours kayaking we finally made it back the start.

After Abel Tasman we headed to Barrytown, a really small town, which was our stopover before getting to Franz Joseph. We spent the night in the bar, and ended up in fancy dress and mixing with the rather bemused locals. A night I certainly won't remember for some time.

Nursing a sore head, we moved onto Franz Joseph, where we would walk up the glacier. I ended up doing the full-day hike which gave us about 6hours on the ice and at times quite a challenging trek. The ice formations where pretty spectacular. The guide essentially made up the route up the glacier as he went along as the ice formations change so rapidly. This meant some pretty small gaps to squeeze through and steep climbs.

The next day we were on our way to Queenstown, known for it's action, adventure and getting hammered oppurtunities. It certainly lives up to its reputation! But it actually offers more than this. It's situation is great for just chilling out by the lake and trying the best ice-cream so far. We went up the gondola and 10 of us raced round the lugeing track. Great fun! For anyone who comes to Queenstown you must try the Ferg Burger, definitely the finest burger I've ever had. It's hard to describe the experience, you just have to come here.

Next trip is to south of the South Island; Milford Sound, Stewart Island and Dunedin being the main highlights...