Tongariro Crossing

I don't know if you guys remember the two girls I lived with when I moved into my first place here, but one of them is getting married this weekend, and the other has come back from France for the wedding. I'm not friends with the girl getting married anymore, but I was super excited to see the girl from France again. Since she is busy with wedding stuff, I only got a few days with her, but we used them to go and do the Tongariro Crossing, one of the great walks. She had tried to do it when she was here before, but the weather wasn't good enough for it, and it has been on my list (which seems to constantly be growing instead of shrinking).

The national park consists of a few active volcanos that make up the ski hills in winter. This is where Sean goes to go snowboarding. The walk is 19.5km (~12 miles) and doesn't go to the highest peak, but goes up along the crater between the peaks. The bus dropped us off at the starting point along with HUNDREDS of other people. For what is not a friendly walk, I was astounded at the number of people doing the walk. All ages, fitness levels, sizes, etc. Especially for what is starting to become the off season.

We started the walk on what was a fairly friendly beginning. You work your way up a little bit and then you hit the bottom of the steep part. This is where it really gets fun. I actually didn't think it was as hard as I expected, but it was definitely not easy. My friend wasn't as in shape as I was, so it took us awhile to get to the top (of that section). The views were stunning and that was really our last chance as we then hit the clouds.

We walked across a very flat expanse to the start of the next bit of the climb up and it felt like mars. Especially with all the clouds hindering the view.

We finally got to the bit where we walked around the crater but because of the clouds we couldn't see anything. We started on the downhill towards the other side and at that point I was thinking I would actually have energy to do something else the next day. We stopped at the emerald lakes, which you could barely make out in the clouds. The clouds cleared for a few seconds and everyone scrambled to get their cameras out. We stopped here for lunch, but didn't stop for long as it got cold once you stopped for too long.

one of the emerald lakes

We walked down for a ways more and finally got to a hut. This was about the point where we finally came out of the clouds again and started to feel like we were in the home stretch (despite there being 2 hours left). The views of the surrounding area were stunning again.

the water was a weird grey color. also notice the volcanic activity in the background

the craziest looking rock

We then walked for what felt like FOREVER to get to the end point of the trail. We went through some forest as well, which really rounded out the diversity of terrain we had seen. We finally got the end in time to catch the bus back to our hostel and I was absolutely pooped. Looking back the clouds had finally cleared too which was a bit of a bummer, but it was supposed to rain and never did so we were thankful for that. In the end it took us 7.5 hours to do the walk. We celebrated with a beer and a meal and went to bed about 9 o clock.

It was a phenomenal experience and I still cannot get over how many people did the walk. I will definitely do it again when the weather is better.

Sunday we drove home and sat on the couch! Monday we played the last game in our 5 a side league and won! We got second place in the league, which was exciting. The rest of the week I have been trying to play catch up and it has been very busy. The team I was coaching finally decided to fold as only 4 girls showed up to play the weekend I did the crossing and only 2 were going to be able to play this weekend.

In other exciting news, we booked our flights to come home to Texas for Christmas yesterday and I am counting down the days until my family comes to visit here!

Oh and also, this was the view from my office when I left this week.

Birthday Camping

For my birthday I wanted to go camping with friends. I said all I wanted was to sit around a fire with friends and a drink in my hand. Since it was Easter weekend, most people were busy, but it meant we could take a few days to go camping, and there was at least one other couple who was free to go with us. We went out the Mangawhai heads, which is a place we had quickly stopped at before, but had been wanting to go back to.

We left home Friday morning and got to the campsite around 3pm. We pitched our tents, got all set up and went for a walk to the beach with their dog, Taco. The nearby beach is really popular for surfers and we could definitely see why. It was a stunning beach with massive crashing waves and it was fun to watch the surfers. We walked back to our campsite, had a shower, and as soon as we got out, it started raining. There was no rain in the forecast, so we didn't really worry, and then all of the sudden it started bucketing. And it kept pouring all night long. We went into the kitchen area to have dinner but there were holes in the roof of that as well. It made for a fun adventure. I was concerned because we didn't properly close the tent up, thinking it was only a short sprinke, but fortunately everything inside was dry.

our campsite

the beach

Saturday we woke up to a beautiful day and went kayaking in the estuary. It was hard work because the tide was so strong, if you stopped paddling for a second you were twice as far back from where you had just been. We went across to the sand dunes for a quick walk. The couple we were with went back to our campsite, but Sean and I went to do the walk we had tried to do the last time we were there. It followed the coastline and it was a beautiful walk. We hadn't realized how exhausted our legs were from walking in the sand so much and by the time we were finished all we wanted to do was sit.

We got back to the campsite, had some dinner and sat around the fire and had a drink, just what I had wanted. Since there was a burn ban, we could only burn pinecones, but they burn really interesting and it was fascinating to watch them burn.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed for one last trip to the beach. Taco made a new friend, and we cracked confetti eggs on the boys heads without them expecting it, following family tradition. Sean and I did one more walk on the way home, but Sean was so exhausting from playing in the water earlier, so we had to turn around before we finished. We came home and relaxed. This week, we also found out that Sean got his first speeding ticket that day from a speed camera.

The next week we regrouted our other shower. It was a lot harder work than we anticipated, and so gross, but so worth it. The shower looks completely different now, and we don't have to feel embarrassed by it anymore.

Thanks to you all for the birthday wishes! I always feel so loved on my birthday! I had exactly the day/weekend I wanted, and just before summer decided to end.

Hello Again

So apparently it's been a year since I have written. Oops. We took a fun camping trip a few weeks ago that I thought I would share with you guys.

We took a trip out to the Manakau heads, which is something I've been trying to get done for a few years now. It is only an hour and a half drive away, so it's sad that it has taken us this long, but it was well worth the wait.

We headed out Saturday afternoon which was a stunner of a day. We stopped in Waiuku for lunch on the way and there just happened to be a barbershop brass band playing in the middle of the town. You have to love small towns. Anyway, we continued on to the tip of the peninsula where there is one of the few lighthouses you can actually still go in, and hasn't been replaced by a solar panel. Despite the fact that it took us an hour and a half to get there, just across the water would have only taken us 20 minutes to get to from home. The lighthouse was really cool. I had read something that had said it was a good place for lunch and to watch for whales, but the only bench we could find faced away from the water, so it wasn't the ideal lunch spot I had envisaged.

our lunch spot

We then went to a winery in the area, which the guy described as more of a "vin-patch" instead of a vineyard. They only had three types of wine (a red, a white and a rose), but the tasting was outside with a beautiful view of the harbor and a bunch of butterflies flying about.

After that we headed to our campsite for the night. We went for a bit of a walk, and I even went for a brief swim. On the beach we saw a little island in the distance that had a sandbar going out to it. We went and had an explore on it and by the time we finished, we turned around and the sandbar had disappeared. Fortunately the water was still only ankle deep. We headed back to our campsite and had our gourmet dinner of PB&J. The website had claimed there were limited spaces available, but there were only about 5 other tents, which was nice. Fortunately we unknowingly picked the spot furthest from the toilet because it was only a drop toilet and the scent was very strong. Fortunately we only had to deal with it when the wind shifted a few times (and when we had to use it).

the island when we walked out to it

the island about 20 min later

view of the sun setting from out campsite.

the little island is even further out now!

In the morning, we went for another wander around the park and then headed off. I was using a very outdated map book to navigate us and there was a marking for something called Hamilton's Gap that intrigued me. We had no idea what it was, but it was only a short detour, so we went for it. It turned out to be the highlight of our trip. It was a small gap in the massive hills that led out to the beach. The waves were crashing in and there were massive sanddunes lining the beach. The scale of it was incredible and the pictures just don't do it justice. This country continues to amaze me at all these treasures tucked away all over the place that no one even mentions. To go from a calm shelly beach with rolling green hills to a black sand beach with crashing waves in only a ten minute drive is crazy. Not only that but its so close to home.

if you look closely you can see the tracks from everyone sliding down the sanddune.

if you look closely, you can see people, which gives an idea of the scale.

looking back to the gap from the beach

We then made a quick stop at a waterfall on our way home. Content, we headed home did some chores and went to the fire gardens, which was an exhibit put on for the Auckland Arts festival. Sean's parents got us the tickets for Christmas. It was pretty much a bunch of installations made of fire and, while slightly terrifying, was really neat.

 

this one was spinning

I also finally finished my quilt that I worked on over the new year's break.

hunter approves.

Well that's it for me. Soccer season is about to be in full swing again. I have volunteered to coach an Under-17 girls team, but it looks like they won't have enough players for a team.

Easter at Leigh

Easter weekend Sean and I went away with two couples up to Leigh. We went with a couple that I met through soccer and some of their friends that we play cards with. Fortunately we finally got a break in the rainy weather and had a beautiful sunny weekend.

The house we rented was on top of a hill and we had a view of the ocean from two different sides of the house. One of the couples have a boat, so they brought it with them. The first afternoon when we got there we went for a walk along the coast. It was a beautiful area and it was a good way to break in the trip. Every night one of the couples was in charge of cooking dinner and we would sit around playing games, and the first night got us off to a great start.

The next day we went to the Matakana markets in the morning for some shopping. In the afternoon, the boys went fishing in the boat, and Sean and the girls went to the beach for some sun. Unfortunately we got there in time for the clouds and it ended up being a bit chilly but we still had a good time.

The view from our back patio

Sunday we took the boat out across the ocean a bit to another beach. The water was finally warm and we had a nice swim. After a bit too much sun, we headed back for more games and food. Unfortunately I had woken up that morning with a very unhappy stomach, so I didn't end up eating too much that day.

Monday we woke up early (thanks to daylight savings), made some pancakes, went for another coastal walk and did some snorkling, all before 11am. The main attraction in Leigh is Goat Island which is a marine reserve that is a huge attraction for diving and snorkling. Since it is the end of summer, everyone got a bit cold and we didn't snorkel for too long, but we still saw some cool fish. I want to go back when its a bit warmer out and get a little bit closer to the island.

Goat Island

We had a great time and it was nice to go on a trip with other people. It was a good chance to play games and see some beautiful scenery.