Wellington to Cairns with a slumber party in Auckland

I had grabbed an early bus to Wellington so I would have one last day there. I stored my huge luggage bags in a hotel near the bus stop and spent the day enjoying my last day in New Zealand. I hadn't really bought many souvenirs yet or Christmas presents for anyone and I wasn't really in much of a mood to but I found a few things anyway. I took an hour and toured the Parliament beehive house and learned about the government of the country just as I was about to leave it. There are still a lot of weird rules and stuff to do with the queen but it was interesting. I was extremely tired from a few long days and my night wasn't looking too restful but after my tour I decided to walk up to the Wellington Botanical Gardens anyway. It was a short steep walk and the gardens were lovely. The view of Wellington was fantastic, definitely worth the walk. Once at the top there was a cable car going up and down the steep Wellington slopes and on account of my fatigue and that fact that it looked like fun, I bought a ticket to take the cable car back down to the city center of Wellington

Beehive Parliament House

Rose Gardens

Peace Pool

Wellington

Cable Track

Cable Car

I had another hour or so I could walk around but decided to admit my impending exhaustion and move my somber self to the airport. I lugged my 4 bags up Cuba street a block to catch the airport bus. It was a surprisingly small airport for the capital and checking in was a breeze. You even went through security right at the gate instead of one main station. I had about 2 hours until my flight and didn't dare go to sleep for fear I wouldn't wake up. I ate my dinner and sent a few emails. I must have dozed off in the plane because the flight was a very short hour. I landed in Auckland about 9:30pm cutting it close to make a short 10 hour layover. My flight for Cairns was set to leave at 7:00 am. Fortunately while comparing travel plans with some friends earlier we discovered we would both had about the same layover in Auckland so it was a little slumber party in the airport. Julianne and Niamh were headed for a holiday to Tonga. We took over a few rows of chairs and surrounded all of our stuff and waited for our 5 am check ins. We all slept off and on in the uncomfortable benches with people coming and going all night. We had made our beds on the second floor of the airport while the check in counters were on the 1st so we thought we had plenty of time when we headed down to check in at 5:15. Boy were we wrong. The lines were huge! Since I was flying to Australia I got through it pretty quick but Julianne and Niamh were going to have to wait. Although my thoughts of being quick were dashed when I had to wait for customer service just to check my extra bag. After all of this it was about 30 minutes until my flight so I rushed up to security, Julianne and Niamh were only about 5 minutes behind. Security was crazy and they even were weighing carry on bags, only allowing 7kgs so I had to throw on my extra jacket and crammed my scriptures in my hoodie pocket and still didn't make the weight limit but they let me through anyway. So after waiting about 12 min for security I got stopped and searched because of my bottle of sunscreen. So finally I made it through with about 10 minutes until my flight was supposed to leave so I sprinted to my gate that seemed forever away as I heard the call, the final call for my flight. I made it just in time and barely sat down as they were closing the door. At this point I had been running and wearing 2 of my heaviest jackets the whole time so I was cooking! I think my seat buddy thought I was crazy but that is ok, because I am. I got a few more hours of sleep on the plane and landed in Cairns about 10 am.

That bittersweet moment when you have to leave New Zealand to go to Australia

The next morning came with some pounding on my window. As a woke completely dazed and confused about what was happening, I thought one of my flatmates was knocking on my door, but I opened it and no one was there. Then the knocking happened again and it was at my window, so with my eyes still half open, I opened the curtains to the all to bright sun and Ema's smiling face. It was 7:30 and she came to wake me up to eat breakfast with her and Brayden before she left in an hour. As confused and half asleep as I was I was happy to see her. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to catch her in the morning. I threw on some clothes and headed over to Brayden's. Brayden and Ema made some delicious egg dish I don't know the name but it was an egg cooked in a ring of a pepper with cheese melted on top on a piece of hummus toast. It was so good!. Graeme, Brayden, Ema, and Benedict were set to leave this morning, so I hung around as long as possible. Ema was heading up to Auckland for a couple days and Graeme, Brayden, and Benedict were headed to the South Island. We said our good byes. It was a crazy day, saying bye to some of my best friends in NZ and having to try and prepare for a final and get myself ready to leave. It was a day of running around and being a bit lost in my own head trying to keep track of everything and everyone so I was sure not to miss anyone before they left.

I did some last minute studying, ate some lunch, and headed off to finish my last final, Sport Coaching. When I got to the classroom, I sat down and stared at the book on my desk....26 pages. My final was 26 pages long! looked like I'd be there the full 3 hours after all. Fortunately a lot of the info overlapped with stuff I had learned in other classes and I felt ok about the rest of the test. There were a few sticklers and some I had to write a couple pages to answer but I finished the test just in time and was exhausted! I was excited to be done but so dead from the test. I finished a few things around campus with Julianne then we head back to the seemingly empty Atawhai. Bene and Franzi were just getting to leave as we returned, so it was more goodbyes. Julianne and I combined left overs to make dinner and my friend from church Viladmir came over to say goodbye and help me pack. I'm really glad I had this last night to see a few more friends as I was originally going to leave right after my final. My "black brother", Rashmi came over for a bit, along with Yuko and we all hung out for a bit and I unloaded all my leftover groceries on Yuko. I was really not looking forward to leaving but I had a plane to catch so there was no avoiding it. I stayed up late packing and finally had everything ready. I woke up early the next morning to clean my flat and catch the bus to Wellington. Tamil was the only one left in my flat. She hates goodbyes and had avoiding saying them to most people but I made her come out of her room and tell me goodbye. She told me a quick goodbye and just gave me a very sweet two page note reflecting on our time together, I really appreciated her heartfelt thoughts. Then for my very last time I left Atawhai flat 11. Viladmir was very sweet and gave me a ride to the bus stop so I didn't have to haul my 4 bags down to the bus stop. It was tortuous waiting for the bus, thinking everything I was leaving, but really there wasn't much left for me at Massey university. My classes were over and most my friends were all gone. So it was time to move on to my new adventure. 

See ya laters (hopefully)

After an very long (24 waking hours) Saturday, Sunday was set to be a recovery day. But who would want to sleep in and get some rest when you could get up at have our very last pancake breakfast as an Atawhai family. So it was over to Ema and Franzi's flat to make some delicious pancakes. We had been using the same recipe every Sunday and today, our last Sunday, we finally tracked down ALL of the ingredients. We were always missing something before but this day we did it and of course had to add some other tasty additions like apples, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Giso and Zaki had been the first to leave and Alex was to leave right after breakfast. It was a fun breakfast although the fact that we were all leaving in the next 3 days hung over us thicker then the fog on Taranaki. There were too many awkward silences for a group of our size so I guess we just ran out things to talk about so that made it good we were all leaving right? No, really we were all just not looking for leaving and I guess didn't like talking about it, at least that is how I felt. Everyone had lots to do and I got a few things done and then headed to church.
Church was the same as always, except for the whole time I was thinking how this was my last Sunday. I hadn't been really close with too many of the ward members but I would still miss the ward and the awesome people I had met. The Haerewa's, Crawford's, Reiri's, Ereti's, Matthew's,Allan's and YSA especially were all so good to me. Sister Haerewa announced my leaving in relief society and she was sweet and gave me such a big hug and kiss before I left. Her family is so amazing, they are so giving, I really appreciated all their love and support. The Reiri's really were who made church a possibility for me. They were so great, they gave me a ride to church every Sunday and to all of the activities I went to. I sat with them in church every Sunday, it was so nice to have them as friends at church from the beginning. It was truly a blessing that first day when I started talking to Yuko and she found out I was from Cottonwood Heights, Utah and she hesitantly asked if I was a member. Member of what? jk yep. How great was it to have my RA's as the only other members around? That saved me so much stress and made church like home. The Ereti's were so fun to talk to and I loved seeing Bevan on campus as he worked in the ESS department. Ema and I would go visit him and I'd try and convince him to tell all my profs to give me A's, it must have worked ;) I appreciated all the dinners and rides so much from everybody. It was sorta hard to say all my thank yous and good byes.

After church it was back home to study and pack (mostly the latter). I had way too many other things on my mind to study well. For dinner everyone came over to our place and we made pizza one last time. We had plenty of toppings as everyone donated everything they had. We hung out and reminisced of all the amazing things we had done and seen. For many, their travels through New Zealand were set to continue for a weeks or months after. So we talked about all the cool places we've been and where to go. It was an incredible last night to spend with such good friends. I can't believe how much we had done and seen. When we all first met we were from such different worlds and yet that never really mattered. One by one people started leave and we had to say our good byes and hopefully some of those see ya laters will happen. Many of my friends were leaving in the morning and it was likely I would never see them again. I really loved the people I was surrounded by. I couldn't have asked for better people. They were the ones that made my study abroad experience so incredible. The country was beautiful, the school was accommodating, but my friends are what I will miss the most. I was able to control much of my experience as far as where I lived, traveled, and the classes I took but it was a great blessing to have the friends that I did. Many of the friends I made based on where I lived. Originally I was set to live in a freshman dorm building on campus with a meal plan, after some bad experiences with meal plans at the U, I asked to be moved and was put on a waiting list before I got to NZ. After a short period I was accepted to live in Flat 11 Keiller Place in Atawhai. If you have read many of my other blogs I probably don't really need to reiterate how much I love Atawhai. But I will briefly: I loved my flatmates, my neighbors, my flat, the neighboring cows, the river we had to cross to campus, and every single one of the 169 dirt steps through the forest I walked multiple times a day to get home. All of us students came to NZ alone, most for just 1 semester, with no geographically close friends or family. So we quickly bonded and learned to support each other because no one else was there to do it. I never lived more than 13 miles from my family so I really appreciated all of there support. It is strange to think how far away we all are now and how it will be a long time before I see any of them again. We want to all get together in Germany in 2012 or 2013 and hopefully it will happen. I am the furthest away besides the kiwis so I think I'll have to start saving my pennies. But I think a quick trip up to Canada might be needed before too long. With all my friends gone, I would be sort of worried to go back to New Zealand just because it wouldn't ever be the same but hopefully someday I'll be able to make it back. Anyway, back to the point, saying good bye was something I wasn't looking forward to but there was no more putting it off. There were a few tears to go around but there really wasn't much else to be said as people walked out that flat 11 door. We still have facebook, emails, and skype :) thank goodness for technology. After everyone left I was too tired to study and just decided to get up the next day and study all morning until my 2:15 test.

Taranaki 2

The weekend started off right. After running a few finals errands to tie up lose ends and get supplies for my last 4 days in New Zealand we all decided to throw together a potluck party because almost all of our friends were leaving in the next few days and we needed to party....and we had lots of food to get rid of. So we all brought over whatever dishes we could put together with what we had left and cooked, ate, talked, and enjoyed one of our last nights together. All of our friends were there and even a few more. We had so much food and such good company. Ema and Franzi came up with a good idea to make a picture frame mat for each person that we could all sign and write a short note then we took a photo of all of us together to put in the middle. So we all passed around white mats with our names on them and signed them. It was such a good idea and something I think I'll really value. That night we hung out late and I had to say my goodbyes to Zaki and Giso as they were both leaving for the south island. They were both great flatmates and I hope I'll be able to see them again soon.They both taught me a lot and I loved living with them. Flat 11 was seriously the best flat Massey has ever had!

Alex

Jen and Rashmi

Martyna and Jen

Alex, Benedict and Graeme ice climbing

Jen and Julianne

Kelly and Jen

The Canadians: Zaki, Chelsey, Stephan, Ema, Brayden, and Trevor

Brayden signing photo

Benedicte sign photos

 Alright so after that late night it was time to grab a couple hours of sleep. Awhile back a couple friends and I had backpacked around Taranaki and about halfway up the actual volcano but it was too icey to go all the way up without proper training and gear. So seeing as it was my last weekend in NZ I couldn't let this volcano elude me, I had wanted to reached the top ever since I stood on the top of Ruapehu, the tallest mountain on the south island, and admired the beautiful volcano from 200k away. So I joined in with Brayden, Graeme, and Brayden's cousin Trevor in an attempt to summit the legendary volcano. Due to the weather and ice it was recommend that only experienced hikers or those with an experienced guide with proper gear attempt the climb this early in the season so of course we rented the crampon and ice picks and I even borrowed some proper hiking boots instead of just using my trusty running shoes. The Massey alpine club that we were renting and getting our info from was extremely worried we were a bunch of of hooligans going unprepared up a dangerous mountain. So we had the proper gear and well as far as the experienced leader.....that became me.That weekend of ice climbing in Colorado with crampons and ice picks counted for a bit more then I think it should have. But I had been to the mountain a few weeks prior and did have a fairly good understanding of the conditions and so with that information we put all the worriers at ease. Although now you may now be thinking, Jen you are your friends are kind of dumb and that is how people get killed, they go climb amount without proper experience and something bad happens and they die. Well to that I say....ya your probably right. In retrospect, its not the smartest thing we ever did. But we prepared as much as we could with proper clothing and we all had a lot of experience in climbing and exploring and had agreed to not attempt anything if it really did look dangerous. We were all pretty fit and had food and water. It was a good group of 4 and I felt good about it. It was probably the last opportunity any of us would have to climb Taranaki.

Flat tire

So it was another early 4:30am wake up call, this time I tried to get some real sleep and even managed to catch a few z's in the car, that is until the large thudding noise every couple of seconds below my head as I rested it on the window. Over a short distance the noise got louder so we stopped to check it out thinking nothing could possibly be wrong with our small sedan rental car (affectionately named the pink dolphin due to a lovely ornament hung on the mirror). But low and behold, like a bad omen, you guessed it, we got a flat tire. Nothing like being half asleep standing in a drizzling rain helping the guys change a flat tire to make you worry what else could happen today. Fortunately the spare was full of air and we were back on the road in no time. During our 2 hour drive we had started with beautiful clear night skies but as the sun rose we entered into a wall of fog and drizzling rain. A similar thing had happened the last time I had been here but it all cleared up by 10am and so I hoped and prayed this would happen again.

The Pink Dolphin

We began our hike optimistic the clouds would clear. There weren't any other hikers on the trail yet and I doubt anyone sane would be with the foggy weather. If we had the time, waiting for some clear weather would have been worth it but this was really our only chance, so we decided to risk it. The beginning was a steep yet clear road, it didn't give you too many good excuses to stop but the burning in your legs sure did. We couldn't see a lot but did catch a few glimpses of the views of the New Zealand pastures that lay in the shadow of this great mountain.

Trevor, Graeme, and the most visibility we had all day

Experienced Leader

Our icey ascent

Snack break!

Brayden making his way up the steep slopes

Brayden at the botton of a huge cliff I had climbed

Kinda cool photo I took near the summit

As we continued the angle of ascent didn't have much sympathy. It was clear were just going to hike straight up the mountain. I really didn't mind too much, as I mention during the Tongariro crossing, all the switchbacks got a little tedious, straight up seemed the most efficient way. About an hour and a half in we reached the snow. Hard frozen snow on a steep incline is hard to stop on wearing skis and nearly impossible in hiking boots so it was time for the crampons. The crampons were a bit different then the ones I had used but the same concept so I showed the guys how to put them on. They all had new ones that easily adjusted to their boots, I had an older pair that I was convinced was missing a pin that held them to size but the lady I rented them from said they would stay and I made the mistake of thinking she knew what she was talking about. After about 5 steps I realized there was no hope for my crampons and just took them off and carefully followed the guys foot steps. Brayden's weren't properly fitted so he took his off too. As long as we were careful with our steps it wasn't really a problem. We each slipped a couple times but nothing dangerous. The terrain varied from wood steps, to rocks to snow. Soon the crampons just became annoying and everyone took them off as there were really causing more danger then keeping us safe. There were 2 or 3 places where they would have been nice but nothing we couldn't handle with a little help from our ice picks. It was definately the steepest mountain I have ever climbed and it just kept going up and up. The fog kept us from ever knowing how close we were to the top and at times it was a bit discouraging not knowing if we were within 200 m or 2000. The rain had mostly stopped and the winds were light although at times I hoped a big gust would just come in an blow all the clouds out, it never did. Our visibility was never more than about 50m. Finally we reached a point where the mountain suddenly became flat, after walking over the flat area and climbing the other side we realize this must have been the crater. So we continued up one of the only places that kept going up until we couldn't climb up and further because we ran out of mountain and so we reached the top. That is about how it went. The only way we could tell it was the top is that we couldn't go up anymore. We couldn't see anywhere else to go up, but we really couldn't see a lot of anything really. The whiteness surrounded us. We didn't catch the lucky break in the clouds we had hoped for. The epic views of the ocean and island were kept hidden behind a stubborn white curtain. But ya know, even though we didn't get to see it, there was still a sense of accomplishment with what we had done and it really was a lot of fun, at least I thought so, but I kind of like that sort of stuff. 

Meditating on the top of the peak

Flat 11-ers at the top!

 But oh man if I thought going up was still pretty fun I've got to tell you about going down. At the summit the place we had hiked up just above the crater was far to steep to easily walk down and so we slid. You just had to commit and let the whiteness take you. At the bottom was the large flat crater so you would slow down but until then you were at the mercy of the mountain. As the day had gone on it had gotten a little warmer and the ice we had scurried up had gotten a little slushy combine that with just how steep it was and we turned a almost 4 hour ascent into a 1.5 hour descent by working on our boot skiing! It was a blast! It was like skiing only a bit more challenging because if you leaned too far forward it wouldn't end pretty. It was the perfect conditions that we just slid straight down on our boots, we didn't have to get our butts wet or even really move our feet once you got going. There were big long strips of snow and places that we so cautiously crossed for fear of slipping before we were trying to get more speed on and race down the mountain. It was such a blast. Finally the snow ended and we walked down the rest of the way and I was exhausted and not looking forward to our next 2 hours stiffening up in the car. We all changed into whatever dry clothes we had and for some (Graeme) that was only a pair of long john underwear...good thing I'd lived with the guy for 5 months and he was basically my brother. But it was a long trip home as we all made half hearted efforts to stay awake and talk to Graeme while he drove. He was a champ for using his left side of the road skills to getting us there and back safely. We made it back around 9pm and could all barely walk we were so stiff and in serious need of food and hydration. I had made the mistake of agreeing to watch a movie that night with some friends from church and didn't have time to really eat much but quickly took a shower and headed back out. My days in New Zealand were numbered and sleep was dropping on the priority list. We watched twilight and I somehow ended up hanging out and talking until about 4am...making it a 24 hour day, not a good place to be with so much to do in my last 3 days in New Zealand but I would survive.

Preparation before the descent

Boot skiing

Wolves from LOTR I swear! ;)

2 More finals...Learning in NZ

I think I am including this post mostly just in case people get the wrong impression about what my time in New Zealand was for.....studying :) We had to document us studying a little for fear you might not believe that there were some days spent studying, I just don't generally like to bore people with the details about them, but here is the proof! We had fantastic study sessions sitting out on the couches in front of the common room and under the patio roof when the rain started. After the Tongariro crossing and fishing adventures I did have 2 more tests.

But really make any assumptions you'd like about what I did based on this blog....because you'll probably be right especially if you say it looked like a lot of fun and a lot of amazing once in a life time adventures. Sure I learned heaps in school but that is nothing compared to what I learned about the world and people. Surrounded by such diverse people in a completely unique place and being on my own taught me more than any professor in any school could have. I learned how to travel and take care of myself. I learned canadian bacon and ham aren't really the same thing. I learned how to better think on the spot and figure out problems real people face in life, not just school. Although I must admit New Zealand is a bit more forgiving then the US probably is. When I did make mistakes the consequences were minor and if you smiled real big and asked really nicely the consequences were usually forgotten. Years of preparation and hard work back home really payed off as well. So many occasions I saw how something I had done or learned in the past really prepared me for almost anything I face in NZ. Like those days of never surrender skiing with Dad, some that resulted in frost bite, made any treacherous conditions on the slopes of a snowy volcano manageable and even kind of fun. I remember thinking just after my first 2 weeks, I had already learned enough to make this trip worth it, I can't even express now how much the full 5 1/2 months taught me. My eyes have especially been opened more to how culturally close minded people can be, and I hope I can continue to have a better understanding of people and where they come from as I got throughout my life. Everyone is proud of where they come from, who I am to belittle or stereotype their heritage. There is no need to freak out when someone pronounces vitamin, capillaries, nutella, or about different because I'm pretty sure the rest of the world could team up against how I say Z or mountains without the t. I'm sure my Canadian and European friends could list about a hundred other things I say or do because I am american, but it didn't really matter

Brayden's Study break

Study Break photo graph skills

Muffin break!

Tongariro Crossing - Climbing Mt. Doom

A must do on every New Zealand explorer's list is the Tongariro Crossing, one of the most beautiful day hikes in the world. This crossing goes along the ridges of a collection small active volcanic craters next to Ruapehu. Much of the hike goes along Mt. Ngauruhoe, an active volcano, that along with Mt. Ruapehu (one I hike previously) were used as Mt. Doom in the LOTR. So 7 of my amazing buddies and I decided to make a Saturday of hiking the crossing. Our team consisted of Ema, Brayden, Graeme, Benedict, Ross, Alex, Viladmir, and myself. It was another 4:30 am wake up call to drive the 2 hours to the national park. If you know me, early mornings can be a little rough but there is something different about waking up to go on a new adventure, I probably didn't sleep more than an hour that night...which isn't the best preparation when you plan on hiking 8 hours the next day but that wasn't going to stop me.

The Crew: Ema, Alex, Ross, Graeme, Jen, Viladmir, Benedict, and Brayden

So we took 2 cars and got to one side of the crossing and dropped almost everyone off then drove another car to the other side. By the time we were all back to the beginning and ready to go it was about 10 am. As we waited for the drivers to come back about 4 groups of hikers started up the mountain. It was a foggy day and the rain was threatening but some hikers only had shorts or light jackets. We started to think we might have brought too many layers because we planned on a snowy ascent but kept what we had anyway. Clouds covered the volcanic ridge so we couldn't actually see the mountain we were about to climb up. The start of the trail was an easy dirt road leading to swampy valley coming up the base of the mountain An area termed the devil's staircase had switchbacks of wooden steps leading up the mountain. As we hiked the wind was constantly changing and the clouds were moving in and out faster than the hokey pokey. We continued to hike onward, but every group we passed warned us of the terrible winds and fog on top of the volcano. A bunch of invincible college kids such as ourselves didn't let this stop us, we were all eager to do this walk and this was our only chance to do it. As we continued our accent all of the groups we had seen start ahead of us had turned back and everyone told us that we should do the same but, being as stubborn as we were, we had to see it for ourselves before we made such a regrettable decision. So we moved into the thick cloud cover and stayed close. So far there wasn't much to worry about, the wind was a bit blustery at times. I put on the extra layer I had taken off during our climb up the stair and put a bandana around my face to protect from the wind and felt reasonably comfortable as we kept hiking.

If there is a Eruption....

The weather conditions really seemed completely manageable to me, I mean as long as it isn't bad enough for my eye lashes to freeze together I saw no problem continuing on.  Even if we weren't going to see much because of the fog there was a sense of pride to  be earned in fearing the conditions and completing the crossing. As we reached a white flat area (everything was white) the winds were fierce but were at our back and not causing us any trouble. The flat area turned out to be basically a huge ice skating rink, I think it was part of a crater that had heated some of the snow and ice to melt it but it had frozen on top so below the ice the water wasn't deep and we could walk across the ice but if you punched through the ice you got a wet boot covered in mud. So of course I just followed the bigger guys until I knew I could walk through an area without breaking the ice. Once we understood what we were walking on it became a lot of fun. We all boot skated across the ice just like figure skaters. When the wind would gust you could get it to give you a little boost as you jump and slid along the ice. For being completely disoriented and in a thick white cloud that we couldn't see more that 20m we had a really good time. We didn't see any other people, as they had all turned back. After crossing the large white ice skating rink, the trail markers led us up along the ridge of the highest mountain. This was the only area that it got a bit icey and slick. It was snowy and icey but also a lot of rocks so you could keep good traction if you stayed on the rocks. As we hiked up the ridge we looked back and the clouds suddenly cleared! We could see the large white open ice field we had just walked through and another crater just above it.

Foggy, ice field

Clouds cleared as we could see the large open white field we had just crossed.

Top of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom)

 We could also finally see just how large the ridge we were hiking was but couldn't quite make out the top. Our magnificent views only lasted a short while as heavy wind gust blew the clouds back in and gave us a bit of a challenge attempting to maneuver up the skinny, steep, and icey ledge. We finally made it to the top and continued to be completely surrounded by the terrible whiteness that had engulfed us. There was nothing to see and the wind was blowing harder then ever. As we continued back down the other side, along the opposite ridge, many of my friends were forced to sit down to prevent being blown over, a wise choice considering the large cliff beneath us for most of the way. But don't worry, it died down enough we were all able to jump, walk, and slide down the mix of dirt, ice, and snow that reminded us all strangely of oreo ice cream, although I'm sure not as tasty. It was a slick decent and more than one of us spent some quality time on our butts as we attempted to safely descend. The part of the trail that we were walking was famous for its spectacular views of volcanic craters, lakes, and miles and miles of New Zealand, but for awhile it seemed the clouds weren't going to give in to allow to witness the legendary sites. But then just as we were about to reach the famous 3 crater lakes at the top of the crossing the clouds cleared out, it was impeccable timing. We saw the deep emerald blue lakes and when the wind blew in our direction you could catch a whiff of the rotten egg sulfuric smell. faint scent of sulfur.  It was really a scene that felt out of this world like we were exploring another planet. We stopped briefly to eat lunch and take photos but then had to continue on our way to keep from getting too cold. We were really fortunate the clouds cleared for us to see this, although barren, beautiful scene.

As we continued on we crossed over another strangely large wide open field of ice and up another ridge to see an even larger lake. The sun was reflecting brightly through the clouds and off the snow and besides the biting wind it would have been tempting to take a dip. The lakes weren't frozen as you would expect in such a cold area, I would assume this is because of thermal heat.  Most of our hike had been through thick fog and we weren't really able to feel the heat from the sun at all. We joked the whole time how the "What to Bring" list online had strongly recommend sun hats and sunscreen.....I explain more on this later. The last third of the hike was a bit more leisurely. Although we did pass a few unprepared adventures headed to where we had just come and knew we'd probably being seeing them headed back our way soon. Some how we had managed to have the wind at our backs nearly the entire time. As we reflected on the warnings people had given us on our way in at first we thought they were being dramatic but really it would have been as awful as they had said had we been going into the wind, like they did, the whole way. So we really lucked out in the direction that we took the crossing. After a spontaneous snowball fight, Brayden posing his famed handstands in sketchy places, and a few snowy ravines, the trail lead us out of a canyon and on to a mountain face overlooking more lakes and the beautiful Taupo valley.
 A number of switchbacks led us to a hut  filled with people just getting ready to complete the crossing or had just finished, after swapping a few stories and taking more photos we continued down the mountain face covered in the most switch backs I have seen to up or down any mountain. It was a bit tedious how slow it made our descent but we had made such good time for our hike is wasn't like we were in a rush. Along the way we saw what we will forever claim to be Smaug's Lair from The Hobbit and a few other places that resembled LOTR. The steep ridges we climbed and the main peak that we summitted was where they filmed the Mt. Doom scenes from LOTR, you could see the resemblance of the steep volcanic mountain covered in dark volcanic soil. Even knowing this Ema wouldn't reenact the scene with me being Frodo and her Sam, where Sam carries Frodo up the steep mountain, well that is mostly because somewhere along the way I had agreed to be Sam, but that is irrelevent ;) ha ha. All in all it was an amazing day and such an unforgettable adventure bad weather and all. Oh and back to the sunscreen thing....ya we all got fried. It was almost humorous considered how many times we had joked about the sunscreen and never used it, only to have fried faces and peeling skin for the next week.  We really never got a lot of direct sun but those UV rays really do still go through the clouds and reflect off the snow to give ya a good burn ha ha. so worth it.

Ross, Viladmir, Benedict, Graeme, Alex, Brayden, Jen, and Ema after completing the crossing

Mt. Doom