Ok, so I am not sure really where to start. This last week might have been the most eventful week of my life. 1st thing is first.......I booked a series of bus rides to go down south to Lake Taupo and Tongariro National Park. Tongariro is more famously known for Lord of the Rings as it is one of the main places where the movie was filmed. It is where Mordor and Mt. Doom are from the movie. I have a kathmandu backpack so I threw in a bunch of clothes and some hiking gear. Then it was time, I hoped on to a bus (its actually called the Naked bus im not sure why) and headed
first to Taupo. The countryside was beautiful and we stopped in a few small towns that were very nice. One place we stopped was called Rotorua and this is a place where there is a lot of 
volcanic activity. There are hot springs all throughout the area and even in the middle of their parks there are hot 
springs with tape around them so people don't fall in (some are waaaay too hot). At the bus station there was even a small pool where people would put their feet in because it was heated by the geothermal activity. I got a quick bit
e to eat in Rotorua (Full stack of Pancakes with fruit and tons of whip cream) and then headed off to Taupo. Once we got to Taupo the dropped everyone off right by the lake (Lake Taupo). Lake Taupo is very pretty and the surrounding town has an alpine village type feel to it. I stayed at a hostel which was actually really nice and tried to get to sleep pretty early. However, the clubs in nz dont close until 4 or 5 in the morning so pr
etty much I had to try and sleep with crazy bass techno music playing extremely loud. The next morning I took some pictu
res of the lake and then hopped on the bus to Turangi which is the little town next to Tongariro. In Turangi I stayed at a BBH hostel (budget backpackers) which are very family oriented. At these hostels you share a room with usually 4 other people so you are forced to meet other people which is very cool. The people I roomed with were from Germany and Finland, and were very interesting to talk to because they were taking a year off from everything to travel the world so I got to hear some good stories. The next day was the hike. I packed some food and water as well as extra clothes into my smaller backpack and then Ian (the hostel owner) drove me to the start of the trail. Words and pictures do not do this hike justice it is absolutely amazing. It is about a 15 mile hike that starts off in the jungle where the only thing around you is trees, streams, and waterfalls. As you climb higher you break out of the jungle setting and enter a large meadow of tus
sock grass. At this point you can see steam from the hot springs coming off of the mountain. Climbing up the first mountain the scenery is spectacular but as soon as you get over the first peak you are treated with views of blue lakes, geothermal vents, volcanic cones
and Mount Ngaurahoe (mt doom). You then drop into a valley with landscape that looks like your on the moon. Then you begin a short very steep climb up to the first volcanic crater (called red crater). The trail up to the crater is extremely difficult because it is all dried up pumas which is like walking through very soft sand. Once at the top though you can see inside the crater and have a great view of the lakes and surrounding hot springs. You can actually feel the heat coming off of the ground at certain points around the crater. After this there is a steep drop down into another valley and yo
u are presented with a dilemma.......The majority of people continue on the same trail which hea
ds through some nice grassy valleys and ends at a parking lot. However, if you want, or if you are stupid enough, you can take the trail up to Mt Doom. Now, most trails zig zag their way to the top of a mountain and provide a challenge but they are doable. Mt Dooms trail zig zags for literally about 5 minutes....and then you are on your own to hike straight up the volcano. You cant zig zag, you have to walk straight up and it is very very very very steep. The ground is once again dried pumas and so for every step you take up, you slide back about 3/4 of a step. I have been on some pretty tough hikes but they paled in comparison to this. It takes almost 2 hours to climb straight up and the only help you get is from a stretch of rocks that allow you to pretty much free hand rock climb up a third of the mountain but it is still extremely hard. Especially when it is cold, pouring rain, and gusting wind all around you. However, once you get to the top you are treated to an amazing view inside the crater of the mountain which almost looks surreal. if you wait at the top for a few minutes the clouds break every so often and you can see for about 60 miles all around you. Quite an experience. Going down the mountain is actually fun, the dried pumas allows you to pretty much slide down the whole mountain and it only takes about a half hour to get down. I hiked down to the parking lot with two german girls that were headed the the same way and thank god they gave me a ride back to town or else I would have to have waited another hour and a half for someone to pick me up. Well thats it for this blog, I will have another up soon as a lot has happened this week, hope fully I can get some pictures up on here if not check out my facebook I put a bunch up on there. Hope everyone is doing well!!!
