Diary
Wednesday, 3.03.04
I am just sitting on Mangatepopo hut on the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Spent 4 days in Thames to give my hand some time to heal.
Drove down to Rotorua to meet Gabi (friend of mine from Heidelberg). Very nice to be having a couple of beers with a friend!
Anyways... Thought about doing a skydive, but being over 100kg did not leave me a choice. Drove down to Whakapapa Village and started the Tongariro Northern Circuit.
Weather is great so far. Just a bit too windy. But here we are again. Back into business. Felt so great to be walking in the open fields again, with the volcanic mountains on my side. The wound at my hand cracked open again a wee bit, but the suturing is still in place and prevents me from falling apart ;-)
Put a dressing on again.
Thursday, 4.03.04
Although I started quite early (7:15), the first wave of 20 to 30 day-walkers overtook me after only half an hour. I really wonder what (if at all) some people think, when going up such a mountain. Many of them were walking in sneakers with thin 'trendy' trousers and wannabe jackets. The wind was quite strong and freezing cold.
The first bit up the south crater almost knocked the air out of me. Bloody steep and the ground is covered with frozen snow and dew. Beautiful scenery.
Going up red crater after crossing the south crater was more tricky than tough because of the small path along the ridge combined with a strong wind and icy slopes. It was here at the latest that those earlier mentioned day-walkers stopped laughing at me with my ski mask and gloves. This must have definitely been hell for them and for everyone else without gloves, hat and proper warm clothing. Those poor people... Wish, I could have felt sorry for them ;-)
Having arrived at the Emerald Lakes, I could smell Red Crater, but visibility was poor. But then, within 2 minutes, we had blue sky and no cloud around. Breathtaking! Can't say more than that.
Being at Blue Lake, I decided not to go to Ketetahi Hut, but instead to take advantage of the great weather and head for Waihohonu Hut. Also saves me one day and a lot of day-walkers.
Tramping through the lava desert was wonderful. No sign of civilization besides the path, as far as the eye can see. Had a nice little break at Otuere Hut and arrived at Waihohonu Hut at 16:30.
Just a perfect day today. Wish every day could work out like that.
Friday, 5.03.04
What a night. This old lady who was sleeping in the same room as me was just snoring like hell. Even the earplugs did not manage to shut out the noise.
I woke up at 12.00 and seriously considered relieving her and me permanently of her snoring by use of raw force… but considering that I'm usually a nice guy, I rather changed rooms.
The day was quite exhausting and not nearly as spectacular as the day before, but still very nice. After about 5 hours (I went the side trips to the Ohinepango Springs which were not worth it) I reached the Taranaki Falls where I gladly would have liked to take a quick bath but being considerate of the other hikers around I could not bring myself to spoil their holiday pictures by putting my naked body on them… So I just took some pics and went on.
At the car park I met the nice Dutch chap again from Waihohonu Hut and gave him a lift to National Park (what a name for a village) where he caught the train to Wellington.
I hit the road for Mt. Taranaki where I planned to do the Pouakai Track.
