A great day on the Tongariro Crossing

Bob is in Australia, Tokyo and Hong Kong for several weeks. I was fortunate to be invited by some lovely people to hike through a trio of active craters and volcanoes called the Tongariro Crossing. To all you "Lord of the Rings" fans, you know it as Mt. Doom. Look at our pictures but also for a great description with pictures go to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0510/sports/new_zealand_trekking.html (It now works.) I also just recently got the pictures up. Go to the picture link and click on Tongaririro Crossing. It isn't every day you get to tramp through 5 different ecosystems in a geothermic setting. It was kind of erie. Some people describe it as surreal. (I'm not really sure what that means but I will go with it). Starting in purple hills with heather, through badlands to steam weathered volcanic summits. Then up along the very windy ridge line (was able to put gloves on for the first time in about a year) with fumaroles belching out and smelling like Yellowstone. Then looking down into the red crater you see the wonderful dark brick red color. This one last erupted in 1926. On the ridge near this crater you can feel the warmth coming up through the soil. I loved the emerald pools. They were not hot. (How do you think I know that?) This is the most closely monitored seismic terrain in all of New Zealand. In 1995 Ruapehu went off. They had warnings so only 1 skier broke his leg. He wasn't supposed to be there. This one closed the resort for 2 years. They learned their lesson when in 1953 they lost around 150 lives from one of the volcanoes. The highest point was 6,187 ft. The lowest was 2,460 ft. We only hiked 11.5 miles. There were about 1000 people on the trail. We looked like ants along the way. I think I was the only American I talked to that day. We took a long time at 7.5 hours. We didn't need to hurry because the shuttle was scheduled to pick us up at a specific time. The last hour of the trail takes you back into the familiar New Zealand Bush with lush podocarp hardwood, many ferns and lots of other wonderful things that I don't know the name of.

The absolute best part of any trip for me are the people I meet. Naomi Waka (cook islander) from the lunchroom invited me to go with her. We drove down with Leah and Derek Couch.(Maori) We went down by way of Lake Taupo. We stopped for lunch and shopped in Taupo. We meet up with Naomi's sisters Fiona and Sharon. Also some friends Ala, Donna and Allen (Samoan and Maori). I was with them all for 3 days, eating, hot tubing, sleeping (5 in a room) and watching 2 episodes of American Idol. We had a really really great time. I learned a lot about the Pacific Islander culture and the Maori traditions. We laughed and laughed and laughed. What wonderful, fun and very faithful people. They call me pakeha and themselves, brownies. (And I drove through Auckland City by myself, I might add)