Scenery and Bliss Overload.....Is There Such A Thing???

After our skydive we met Leigh for lunch. Exchanged stories as Leigh also went skydiving awhile back. We walked around town for a bit; I really do love Taupo. From Taupo we headed further north to the Coromandel Peninsula. If you were to look at a map of New Zealand, the Coromandel Peninsula is the stretch of land directly across the Hauraki Gulf from Auckland. It is a popular vacation spot for many Aucklanders because of the warm weather and the gorgeous beaches. So from March 26th to the 28th we stayed at Church Cottages in Hahei. It was a long drive from Taupo, but it was pretty. We stopped in Whangamata for groceries. Even though we were not there during school break, we were going on a Friday and there was a vintage car show going on; busy is an understatement. Whangamata is a small town and it was packed. We didn't have a choice, we had to go grocery shopping, but it was a bit of a headache to get around. We got our groceries and Delia fortunately found a quicker way out. As we finally got out to the main road, we both realized at that time that we forgot to get gas - yikes!!! Well, it was unanimous, we were definitely not going back to that nightmare. It was decided that we would go to the next town. Unfortunately, Pauanui was another nightmare, samething all over again! Apparently, the vintage car show was in both places.....lucky us???!!! We did eventually make it to our accomodations in Hahei about 7:30pm. We were both tired and hungry - my recipe for "grumpy pants", but the place was quaint, the views were beautiful and we did have food to cook so I was good. We had a nice salmon on the BBQ with salad and veggies. Some relaxation time then off to bed. On March 27th, we walked to Cathedral Cove via Gemstone Bay (they say, one of the best areas to snorkel in New Zealand), Stingray Bay and Mares Leg Cove. We just strolled along the beach. That has to be one of the to 10 of best feelings in the world - walking on a beach with the sand and water under your feet on a warm sunny day....pure bliss! It was definitely one of those days that I just did not want to end! We then went to Hahei Beach and walked and swam. We went back to our cottage for lunch and then headed back out to Opoutere Beach. It was a few kilometer hike to the beach in a pretty forest. We again, walked along the beach and swam. The beauty of New Zealand beaches and Tasmanian beaches, are that they are not only gorgeous (white sands and clear blue water), but you are in complete isolation - you have the beach to yourself. That just does not happen very many places. It was almost "beach overload", but all I wanted was more. Unfortunately, Delia and I don't really enjoy sitting out in the sun on the beach, but love to walk and swim, so we choose a few beaches to walk along. The last beach that we wanted to go to was Hot Water Beach. This is so called because at low tide one can actually dig a hole in the sand and bathe in hot water. This phenomenon is possible because of the hot rock that is under the surface caused by volcanic action millions of years ago....cool.....or hot rather! By the time that we got to the beach, the tide was too high. But we did walk around town and really, sitting in hot water on a hot day; okay, the concept is neat, but just knowing that is was there was good enough for us. The actual beach has a large surf and is not the safest to swim or surf in. We walked along the beach again and then called it a day. Headed back to our cottage and had a nice steak on the BBQ with sweet potato, corn and salad. Relaxed on our porch and rested for our drive further up the Coromandel. We had a nice relaxing breakfast and then started to drive further north. We did not stop at Otama Beach or Opito Bay (suppose to be outstanding beaches). Although this was a bit disappointing, we enjoyed 3 beautiful beaches yesterday and it just made our drive too long. We did stop in Coromandel Town; very cute town. We picked up some groceries and made arrangements to stay at the Tangiaro Kiwi Retreat in Port Charles (very north part of the Coromandel). Now that place I would pay more than $1000 a night for. We wanted accommodations near the top of the peninsula because we wanted to hike the Coastal Track, but we had no idea that it was going to be this beautiful! We had our own "cottage"; if you want to call it that. It had a bedroom, en suite, a second bathroom, huge kitchen with all the amenities that you could need (including a dishwasher), large livingroom/dining room, deck and on and on and on! We had housecoats that we could use to walk to the outdoor spa....that's right baby, outdoor whirlpool, in the middle of the forest. I am sorry, but it just does not get better than that. And we didn't pay anything close to $1000 a night. The owners of the Kiwi Retreat live in Auckland and bought this land a while ago. They loved it so much and they wanted to share it with others. And that is how the Kiwi Retreat was started. The owners are conservationist and are very interested in preserving New Zealand's indigenous bird and plant life. There property also had a stream that led to a watering hole that we were also welcome to use. We made friends with the manager; Katharina and ended up having Katharina and her partner; Lettecia, to our cottage on the second night for dinner. Well, to be honest, we invited them to have dinner, but they bought and cooked everything! The first day we walked to the watering hole and had a dip and finished off our night in the hot tub. The place was really quiet, but I didn't realize until the next day that there was actually no one else there - I mean, no one. In the early morning, there was not even staff. It was so amazing, I can't explain the feeling. The following day is the day that we planned to do the coastal track. We have now been in NZ for almost 2 months so the narrow, twisty, turny roads don't surprise us anymore; or so we thought. The roads up the Coromandel Peninsula were challenging enough, but once we drove from Port Charles to Fletcher's Bay where the track started, it was scary. There was barely enough room for 1 car little less 2 cars. A very narrow, very twisty, turny dirt road with pot holes and very steep cliffs on the side of the road and a few 1 way bridges just to add a bit more of a challenge into it. Delia did an amazing job. I am really not sure if I could have done it or not. As nerve racking as the drive was, it was totally worth it. It was a 5 hour fairly easy hike along the coast with amazing views. We hiked to the very tip of the Peninsula to Stony Bay and then back again. We got back to our little "mansion" and finished off with lunch, spa and shower. The dinner with Katharina and Lettecia was fun. They both are involved with New Zealand's conservation of plants and wildlife. Lettecia let us listen to the call of the Kiwi bird; both the male and the female, which are incredibly different. I always enjoy listening to Kiwi's talk, they are great story tellers (the people that is, not the bird - ha!. After our time at the Tangiaro Kiwi Retreat in Port Charles, we said our good-byes to Katharina and Lettecia and headed down the west side of the Coromandel Peninsula (saw a complete rainbow over the sea), to head back north of Auckland to Matakana. Matakana is located north of Auckland on the east side of the island. It is in line with a famous island in NZ called the Great Barrier Island. Matakana is very quaint; sort of like a "Niagara-on-the-Lake" kind of feel. We hiked about 2 hours along the shore in the Tawharanui Regional Park that was close by. It is a Marine Reserve - that is, totally protected and absolutely no fishing in the area. New Zealanders do alot of little things right - they pay taxes, but whatever the price tag says....that's the price you pay (not $19.99 + tax when you get to the register), they pay their service staff decent wages so there is no need for tipping, in fact, you don't tip, they don't have pennies or nickles so everything is rounded up to the nearest "ten", they have roundabouts (crazy at first, but once you get use to them, they are awesome - a word of advice when driving on the left....always look right), they rarely complain; nothing is too hard, too inconvenient or too painful - they just do it and finally, the whole country is into conservation. I am not sure if it is because they can actually see a light at the end of the "environmental tunnel" or what it is, but they are all on board, doing there part to preserve their plant and wildlife - it is a complete pleasure to watch. There are many more positives about New Zealand, but that's my point for now. We stayed 2 days in Manakata so the next day we headed to Goat's Bay to snorkle. We heard it had amazing snorkeling; rated one of the best non-tropical places in the world to snorkel. We went early in the morning and when we went in there was no one there - awesome. We took our rented equipment and headed out to the shelf. It was a little cold, but not too bad - we did have wet suits. We saw tons of fish and coral. The Red Snappers are really cute - they would swim right beside you and play and when if you turned away, they would swim by your eyes and catch your attention to play more - very cute. We stayed out for a couple of hours and then headed back in. One, of the many nice things about travelling for 5 months and travelling in New Zealand for 2 1/2 months, is that you are pretty much always in a relaxed mood. Start when you want, finish when you want, do what you want, etc. and for the most part, there are NO crowds. I highly recommend it! One of the things that Delia wanted to do was to scuba dive in the Poor Knights. This is an area of small islands, caves and rocks off the east coast of New Zealand's north island; about 2 hour drive north of where we were at Goats Island. Bummer.....For me, I just can't get left behind and I do want to do everything and I hate it if something makes me anxious, but alas, scuba diving is one of them. I thought that diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia would satisfy Delia, but no, she wanted more. Pool Knights is one of the highest rated, if not the highest rates places to snorkel in non-tropical waters. Damn, damn, damn.....that means that Delia would want to go - and she did. Delia's fear is that if I see a trail or a mountain, I have to hike it all. My fear is that if there is scuba diving, Delia is going to want to go and she is going to want to go in all the caves....not my favourite thing to do, but again, I didn't want to be left behind.....I think I should go for therapy for that! Anyways, as always, any adventure taken proves to be an experience enjoyed and most often, more; Poor Knights, was no exception. We booked accommodations in Ngunguru at the Bellmain House (Owners; Graham & Marion) and booked our dive with Tutukaka Dive; 2 dives and a cruise to the Poor Knights Islands. Graham & Marion were delightful. They greeted us in the traditional "Kiwi way"; full of zest and excitement and wanted to know everything about us. They shared their apples and other goodies with us. After we booked our dive, we stopped by a local bar; quaint and by the water. No one was around, but the bartender - surprise, surprise, but ended up having a great chat with her. The next morning we headed back to Tutukaka from Ngunguru for our dive. We met the crew and got suited up. There were about 10 to 12 divers along with us. Hemi was our instructor (picture of the 3 of us) and he was a blast; very patient and fun and Craig was our Skipper (sorry, no picture). It was about a 50 min boat ride out to the islands and the swells were big.......oh yeah, I got sick - 7 times!!! I tried so hard. I kept my eyes on the horizon, but with the boat's bow going up and down so much, it was hard to keep my eyes on the horizon. I lasted about 40 minutes and then I just could not hold it back anymore. Funny how you think you are hiding it well, when both Delia and 1 of the crew members had the bags in hand well before I needed them - I guess they are use to the signs....you know, that "green faced, drooling, pathetic looking, oh, poor me look eyes, I am going to puke all over you if you don't get me a bag" person - not that hard to pick out! The good thing is, that once the boat stopped, I was fine. I was able to do both dives no problem. And the funny thing is, on the way home, no problem at all - very strange! Sorry, I had to share. The dives were good. Saw more fish, coral, sting rays, moamoas and sea urchins. We went in some caves and saw several other fish. I kept a close eye on both Delia and Hemi, but overall, it was a blast! Once we finished both our dives, our Skipper; Craig, took us around the islands - so beautiful! We saw some bottlenosed dolphins; mom and babies. We saw alot of them and they were just swimming around playing, but it is unbelievably hard to get pictures of the darn things - so fast, even when they are slow! We went into the largest cave in the world....very cool! The acoustics were outstanding. The experience was wonderful! Once we were back on land, we went finished off our day in our cottage with a nice steak dinner. Graham came by to see how our day was and to wish us well on the rest of our trip. We left at 6 am the next morning to head back to Auckland where we were meeting up with the Wrigley family; the friends that we met on the Kepler track.....a mere month and half ago....man, time flies when you are having fun! From the time we left Lake Taupo to now, the scenery has been fantastic. It is impossible to compare the south to the north island, but I have to disagree with people who say that the south island is much prettier. The north island's beauty holds a special place in my heart; right along side the south island's place!

Sweet As.......

Due to the slight change in our Tongariro Crossing date, we finished the hike and immediately had to head off to Taupo to meet our friend Leigh Austin. Before we left National Park behind us though, we did go back to the Lodge to pick up our things and say good-bye to Yvette, Colin and Jimmy. Delia was still on a high so told a bit of our story of the successful crossing and the successful climb up Mount Ngauruhoe. Due to the questionable weather and our decision to change days, the owners of the Lodge were pretty stoked that it all worked out for us. Kiwi's genuinely care about other people's joy.

Leigh Austin; who lives in Taupo, is a friend of Delia's sister-in-law; Shannon Close (Delia's brother; Jason's wife). Well, a friend of the family really, but the connection is ultimately through Shannon. Shannon and Leigh have been pen-pals since they were 13 years old and have kept in touch ever since. They have seen each other a few times and have remained friends. Leigh knew we were coming and was more than willing to welcome us into her home and entertain us in and around Taupo. As you know Delia and I love New Zealand, but of all the places that we have been so far, Taupo is one place that I really felt at home; a place where I could definitely live. It is the location of Ironman New Zealand to start, so you can imagine that the terrain and atmosphere gears toward the active individual. Lake Taupo is gorgeous itself and is surrounded by mountains, great cycling and running routes and to top it off; for the directionally challenged trait of mine, the town is small enough, but big enough to get around easily. We met Leigh at her place and pretty much instantly we felt at home. We met Leigh, her flat mate and her two cats; Kodi (short for Kodiak from Leigh's trip to Alaska) and Mocha (Leigh's favourite drink; Cafe Mocha). We had a great dinner; chatted and drank New Zealand wine. Leigh taught us some Kiwi sayings such as; Sweet As and Knackered. Leigh also completes ironman races and is the Run Direction for Ironman New Zealand so we were not short on things to talk about. Things were not completely planned for our time in Taupo, but there was no fear that we weren't going to be entertained. The next day was a day of organization. Unfortunately Leigh had to work, but we were able to go to town, look around and get supplies for dinner that night. The weather forecast for the next few days were not that great so we decided to drive north to Rotorua for the next couple of days and book our skydiving for Friday March 26th,

Rotorua is known for Maori traditions, geysers and hot springs. Delia and I love to learn more about the indigenous people and their culture and without knowing any local Maori people, we were forced to trust the tourist industry. This is not my favourite thing to venture into, but the "i" site in New Zealand has been very helpful to us so far so we thought we would at least try. We booked accommodations at Victoria Lodge in Rotorua for two nights. It was quaint and with no surprise at all, the owners were friendly. As we drove in to Rotorua, we followed the signs to the "i" site to plan our time there. We saw the "i" site sign and even though it looked smaller than usual, we stopped and went to check things out. The "i" site is usually alot bigger and more of a "Department of Conservation" feel to it, but Rotorua is smaller so we didn't think anything more about it. To tell you the truth, nothing really caught our attention as it all looked very touristy. After talking to the representative and reading the pamphlets, we decided on attending a Mitai Maori for that night, including a concert, hangi (Maori method of cooking in the ground with hot stones), glow worm bushwalk and tour of the Rainbow Springs Nature Park to see Kiwi. For the following day we booked a 7 1/2 hour Maori tour including the thermal park and geysers. Seemed that this would cover most things in Rotorua.

Once everything was booked, we went back to our lodging, relaxed and waited for our bus to take us to the Mitai Maori. The whole experience so far did not feel good and as soon as the bus pulled up to our lodge, we had a really bad feeling. We wanted to renege on the whole deal, but it was a little too late for that. From there, it just got worse! It reminded me of the horrific experience we had in Hawaii at the Luau (in ancient times the Hawaiian people would gather together to celebrate auspicious occasions with a feast. These celebrations were held for many reasons); just a tourist trap. When we arrived at the place, there were hundreds of people. I couldn't believe the crowds. We filtered in and sat at a table. We couldn't hear very well, the place was uncomfortably crowded and it was so commercialized we thought we were both going to melt and die! The concert of the Maori dance was actually very good, but other than that, it was horrible! Now, before you make your own judgements, Delia and I were sitting across from a British couple that seemed to really enjoy it; some people like that stuff. It was just not our "cup of tea". In fact, it is one of my worst travelling nightmares. The night was so bad and we were so tainted by the commercialized aspect of the Maori tradition experience, that we cancelled our tour for the next day. Who knows, it might have been better, but we were not willing to chance a 7 1/2 hour tour and $150 each for something that might just be as commercialized as we just did. I cringe everytime I think of it. I must tell you though, Rotorua was not a complete loss. We took this opportunity to relax and enjoy the sulfur springs. And the ironic thing is, that day when we were driving around to find something else to do, we found the "real" "i" site. The other one apparently was just a tourist company impersonating the NZ "i" site - no wonder! Well, I am not sure a trip is complete unless you have been subjected and get caught in the 'ole tourist trap!

On our way back to Taupo, we stopped at Huka Falls. Unbelievable amounts of water that were flowing down this river and falls. And the colour was awesome. Pictures do not do it justice. The sound was deafening. While in the area we also drove through Huka Lodge. This is suppose to be one of the place to go to before you die. It is $1000 a night to start, so driving through was the closest we were going to get. I always wonder what could be so good that it is worth $1000 a night? Other than a nice view, great service and a comfortable bed which we got even when we were camping; what else does one need? Even after going through for a quick peak, I still couldn't figure out what all the fuss is about.

Back in Taupo we headed straight for Freefall. That's right boys and girls, Delia and I were going to do some skydiving. Taupo and Nelson were suppose to be the best places to skydive in New Zealand because of the views. In Taupo we could see Lake Taupo, both the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, Mount Tongariro and Mount Taranaki. And we did see it all! There were 5 of us that went up in the plane together, each with our tandem skydiver and photographer. I was the first to jump and had the best seat in the house. I was literally sitting sideways to the door that we jumped out of. Delia jumped second and the rest followed. We had a freefall of 1 minute and then parachuted the rest of the way that took about 5 to 6 minutes to get down. I wasn't scared or nervous at all. It is amazing though, when you have all these thoughts of what you want to do, but when you are actually falling 200 km/hr, you forget everything. There is serious "G" forces acting on your face and body. I thought my face would be permanently stretched. Delia said that she was actually not nervous, but when she jumped from the plane she freaked out. By the pictures, it looks like I am the freaked out and Delia is the one relaxed - go figure! Anyways, we had a great group (1 guy from Canada, a couple from England and Delia and I). We all survived and we all had a blast! Totally worth the money for the thrill and the views. Once you are floating down with the parachute, it really is peaceful and beautiful. Skydiving was awesome; or how the Kiwi's say......Sweet As!!!

Check, Check and Check

After our canoe trip, we rented a car from March 19th to April 2nd to finish our journey on the north island. We made arrangements to meet up with the Wrigley's on April 2, 2010. Jennifer, Karen and David Wrigley were the Father and sister group from Auckland, New Zealand, that we met on the Kepler track, way back in the beginning of February. They invited us to their place for Easter weekend. Pretty awesome, I know! So that gave us 2 weeks of travel on the north island before our visit.

From Whanganui we headed north to the town; National Park, where we booked accommodations at the Tongariro Crossing Lodge (a family run business; Mother, Father and son; Yvette, Colin and Jimmy respectively). The town National Park is on the edge of the Tongariro National Park where there is Mount Tongariro, Mount Nguruhoe (Mount Doom to those Lord of the Ring fans) and Mount Ruapehu. In the Tongariro National Park and through these mountains, is another famous Great Walk called the Tongariro Circuit. Although people do hike the complete circuit, more popular is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This is a trek over steep volcanic terrain that is 19.4 km; one way. And this; surprise, surprise, is what brought Delia and I to this park. As in any alpine adventures, mother nature plays a huge part in what you see, how tough it is and ultimately, if you are able to do it or not. It is a one day trip. The bus will pick trekkers up in National Park, drop them off at the trailhead and then pick them up at the end, 8 hours later. It is estimated as a 5 1/2 to 7 1/2 hour trek, so it doesn't leave alot of time to fool around.

To date, mother nature has been kind to us, but when we arrived in National Park the weather was questionable and it was to stay questionable for the next few days. To make a long story short; the owners of the lodge that we were staying in had access to satellite views of the top of the mountain on their computer. Even though it is known that the weather in National Park is different then what is at top of the mountain and even having the satellite views to see the present weather; predicting what the weather will be in 10 minutes, 30 minutes or a day from now is impossible - we had to go with our gut feeling. When we woke up the next morning, the weather did not look good. We decided to change our plans for the day and hike the crossing the following day. Again though, there is no guarantee that the weather won't be the exact same or worse, but it was the chance we were going to take.

So on March 20, 2010 instead of doing the crossing, we took our car and drove to Napier (west coast of the north island) to see some wineries and vineyards. The weather difference is crazy. By the time we got to Napier, it was crazy hot and sunny; gorgeous. The west coast is known for the least amount of rainfall in New Zealand; a 2 hour drive away from the mountains where it can rain, snow and have sun all in one day! The weather was outstanding and the sea was beautiful. We went to Brookfields (Merlot), Vidal (Syrah) and CJ Pask (Merlot). We went to Halton Estates that was to be incredible, but when we got there, it had closed down; all the vines were dead. From there we went to Mission Estate Winery which is the oldest winery in New Zealand and Hawkes Bay which is the largest (Syrah & Rose). It was a nice relaxing day and made up for the disappointment of not being able to do the Tongariro Crossing. We drove back and had dinner at the Station in National Park that was fun and had they great food. We had a great day and went to bed with all our fingers and toes crossed that the weather will be better for tomorrow. Because unless it is deemed dangerous, we are getting our little butts along that track!

March 21, 2010. We had a fabulous sleep. Had a shower, breakfast and got ready for our trek, all the while making a plea to the "Weather and Mountain Gods" for good weather. As we headed out, we saw an amazing sun rise and the skies were clear with a few puffy clouds around just to make it interesting. We still were not sure what was happening in the mountains, but so far so good! We got dropped off at the trailhead and the day was perfect from then on. The weather was spectacular. This gave for a great walk and unbelievable views. As much as I am a fan of doing side trips, this was a 19.4 km alpine crossing, so I was thinking that just hiking the main trail would be challenging enough. Little did I know what was going on in Delia's mind. Just before this trek we found out that our dear friends; Gitte and Mina, had to put their dog; Marley down. Gitte is Delia's best friend and we loved Marley like she was our own! Knowing that we would never see Marley again and knowing that Gitte and Mina had to go through this on their own was emotionally difficult for Delia; for both of us. The reason I am telling you this, is because Gitte's favourite movie/book ever is the Lord of the Rings. So in Delia's unstable emotional state, she decides that she wants us to climb Mt Ngauruhoe; for her best friend Gitte. Now, it is only a mere 2287m high, but it is an active volcano and you are climbing up primarily volcanic scree; 2 steps up, slide down 1. It is a very steep and hard climb, but Delia had her mind set so we were going up. The weather was perfect so there was no reason not to, except that it was going to be bloody hard. It is also an unmarked trail; Delia and I do not do well on unmarked trails. I mean, we are going to the top, it's a volcano and there are no trees or anything else that is obstructing our view so I am not thinking we are going to get lost, but I am sure there are easier ways then others to get up there. As well, the base of the mountain is pretty wide - where do you start? After asking around and looking at something that might be a trail, we started up.

There was a bit of cursing going on at the beginning because it took awhile to get use to climbing on the scree. It is loose volcanic rock so there is minimal traction and you literally slide down and sink a bit on each step; VERY frustrating! We were about 30 minutes into our 2 hour climb, when Delia just took off. I mean, I swear she had wings. Where did she get all that energy? Just because of the nature of the climb, I insisted that she not wait for me; I would make it up. Unfortunately, she took my word and shot up. As much as I wanted her to keep her pace, I was angry with myself that I couldn't keep up. She kept getting further and further away from me and I kept getting more tired. My mantra to my athletes was coming back to bite me in the bum......"Never feel sorry for yourself, Never give up and Enjoy the day"......damn it! We did finally make it to the top and it was worth it (mind you I was about a half an hour behind Delia)! We were at the rim of the crater of an active volcano; cool! It was really windy so I wasn't confident with walking around the top of the rim, but we sat and enjoyed the view and did look over the rim - awesome!

Other then the obvious feelings of accomplishment and shear beauty of climbing the mountain, we had another "aha" moment. I come from a racing background and although I much prefer this type of adventure as opposed to competition, there are elements of training and racing that are thrilling and character building. The feeling of crossing the finish line; knowing all the hard work that you put into it, is a feeling like no other. That euphoria feeling that you can only get by going beyond your comfort level and conquering what you did not think was possible. This feeling is not reserved for racing by any means. Anything that puts you in a space that is above and beyond your area of comfort, to almost complete fear. You then take the challenge head on and obliterate it! Man, it is an amazing feeling! Once you complete it, the best is yet to come. All you want to do is talk about it because is just makes you feel so damn good!

So if I have felt this before, what exactly was the "aha" moment you are asking? Delia and I share the same values and morals, but when it comes to racing, training and sports, we are quite different. I have tried on several occasions; including on this trip, to get Delia to go beyond the comfort zone. Now, don't get me wrong, Delia is not afraid of challenges nor is she feeble in any way; quite the opposite really. But when it comes to physical sport-type things, she is afraid of looking weak by not being able to keep up. Delia works hard and loves a good challenge like the rest of us, but pretty much in a controlled manner and certainly not in a competitive atmosphere. Throughout our trip I have been excited that Delia has physically challenged herself in this area and has loved it, but this time it was a bit different. This climb that we did was hard, bloody hard, but Delia was on a mission and even though she started to feel defeat early on in the climb, she kept going and going and going. I didn't really realize this until after we were at the bottom again, when she started telling me more about her climb (as I was really far behind). Delia described her feeling of frustrations at the beginning, but refused to let it get to her. She continued to climb and instead of getting discouraged, she was taking this feeling and taking herself to the next level of achievement. She caught up to a group of young guys. They were exhausted and were definitely breaking the #1 rule of "Never feel sorry for yourself". They chatted and Delia proceeded to bound past them all the way to the top. Delia enjoyed the views and patiently waited for me. Once she could see me, she started to encourage me and gave me some helpful hints on which way to get to the top. The last little bit was brutal as you were already tired, the scree just got deeper and as close as the top looked, it seemed to take forever to get there. It was at that moment, when I looked up at Delia encouraging me, that I saw that look, the euphoric look in her eye. It is a look that I could recognize anywhere on anyone! As worn out as I was, I was so excited that Delia felt this way. And I knew it was the same feeling that I get when I finish a race because all the way down and for about 20 minutes after we got down, Delia couldn't stop talking about how she felt, what she did, about the boys that she passed; all the while with a big fat grin on her face. Delia felt overwhelmed at the beginning, but took all the positive energy that she was feeling, directed it towards the goal and obliterated the challenge to complete satisfaction! Well done mate!!!

But our trek was far from over. At this point, we were still less then 1/2 way to the end. Remember, this crazy hike up Ngauruhoe was a side trip. From the base of Ngauruhoe, which is at the South Crater, we hiked to the Red Crater (1886m) then to the Emerald Lakes. On the way we could also see Mount Tongariro (1978m) and the Central Crater to the west. We continued on to Te wai-whakaiata-o-te Rangihiroa (Blue Lake) and hiked to Ketetahi where we reached the first hut. At this point we were still pretty high up so we saw the Ketetahi Springs and views of Lake Taupo (north of where we were). Just a piece of information that you might find interesting. The steam that we saw coming from Ketetahi Springs is acid sulphate water. High in boric acid and some ammonia. The springs also contain magnesium, calcium and iron. The hot acid water "cooked" the rocks and this, added to by mineral deposits and the red and blue green algae in the water creates the most amazing colours in the rocks. The temperatures range from 74 degrees C to 91 degrees C with the hottest steam vent at 138 degrees C. The Ketetahi Spring flows into the Manga-a-te-tipua Stream that we followed the rest of the way down to the car park.

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing has everything to offer. It definitely earns it's amazing reputation. It has mountains - check, volcanoes and craters - check, check, desert like terrain - check, emerald lakes - check, challenges - check and of course our "aha" moment - and check! I am sure that the weather would have changed our perspective of the trek if it weren't so beautiful, but once again, mother nature was on our side. With 19.4 km of trail, there were tons more stories and more people that we met along the way that had their stories to tell, but for now, I will have to leave them in my memory bank for another time.

Next on our agenda was Taupo, NZ to visit a friend and for more adventure.