Well im currently hanging out in Wanganui atbour hostel waiting for Ben to get back from the doctor (he hurt his wrist) and i figured i ahould update this blog. There is much to be sqid and many different ways to go with this blog, but for now I'm just gping to give you the overview of events from the last week.
I arrived in Auckland on February 5th and headed off to the Base Backpackers hostel in the city center. The hostel was exactly what one would expect a hostel in a city to be like - loud with lots of booze and debauchery. I was more intent to grab some sleep than join in with that, so after a short walk around the city I passed out. I must say that I felt a little bit like I was missing out by not joining in with everything that was going on at the hostel, but I also feel like that's not why I'm here. I want to hike and I absolutely want to meet people from all over the world but I also don't really want to do it in that way. I'd prefer to meet people on the trail and be able to remember their names and stories. Now don't get me wrong, I definitely will be throwing back a few beers on this trip, but I'm not so interested in the party scene.
On the 6th, I headed to Ohakune to meet up with Ben. It was great to see him and feel like things were finally getting going after 3 days of travel.
We stayed at a hostel there that was much more low key and much more my scene. We hung out with a couple of guys from France and a couple from Holland before turning in for am early night.
The next day we had the owner of Yeti Tours, Rob, drive us to our trailhead and started a tramp around Mt Ruapehu. It was a gorgeous walk with amazing views of the mountain and waterfalls.
That night we slept in Whakapapaiti Hut and got blasted by a storm. Thank god for 4 walls around us that night. The next day was soggy, all the more so because of a river crossing in the first k. At halfway, we stopped at a cafe in a small town the trail went through and waited out the rain. At about 4 we got back out on the trail and were very glad to have some sun on us. We arrived at our hut around 6:30 and got some beautiful shots of Mt Ngarahoe, better known as Mt Doom, at sunset.
We woke up ar 3:30 the next morning in the hopes of getting to the top of Ngarahoe for sunset. I thick cloud that covered the mountain thwaryed those plans. Instead, we hiked to a smaller peak and sat in some thermal vents there to warm up after a wet, windy morning. It was one of the best hikes I've done in a long time. We couldn't see much, but we were able to get some misty otherworldly views and I laughed harder than I have in a while.
At times, I am missing the comfort and familiarity of home. I haven't moved to a new place or really done anything out of my comfort zone since heading to college almost 7 years ago. Ultimately, though, I am glad to be here and glad to be out od that comfort zone. I'm excited to see what New Zealand holds.
Until the next post,
G
Love the pics! The beard scares me :)
ReplyDeleteBig Stinky looks like an Ent.
ReplyDeleteFind a Fiji bitter :-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks for keeping us updated Gary. I am Jealous!
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth