New Zealand - Tongariro National Park

On our journey back up north we couldn't resist stopping off in Tongariro National Park for a couple of nights. With volcanoes, some of them snow-capped, on every side it's a hard-to-beat setting. We hiked through heather and gorse-filled scrub lands, with yet more waterfalls (anyone bored of photos of waterfalls yet?!) as well as more tropical forests and spotted (and even more surprisingly photographed) an owl.



Today we completed the Tongariro Crossing, dubbed the "Best one day walk in New Zealand". I actually did it the last time I was here too, but in total white-out conditions! This time the weather was glorious and so I got to see all the breath-taking views and Ben to photograph them. One of the big mountains we walked alongside was Mount Doom in 'Lord of the Rings', and it looks pretty bleak and scary even in the sun.

The 5.30am start and seven hours "tramping" (as they call it here) took it's toll though, and we had to put the bed down again when we got back and have a snooze, before heading to the bar for a glass of wine for me and a bowl of chips for Ben! My legs are pretty achy now too and I've got blisters, so maybe I'm not quite as fit as I hoped I was!



The other bit of excitement to happen here was that Ben electrocuted himself! Well he's not actually dead, but he did get a nasty shock. I heard him shout all the way from the toilet block! It was nothing to do with Margery I hasten to add, and the fault of the fitting we were trying to plug into and of course he's fine now and had lots of TLC from me, so don't fret.



Ben:
There are more photos here.