near death on mount doom

so we didn't win the lottery. we sat down to watch 'sleepy hollow' on channel 2 and the lottery came on midway. rach got three numbers but needed the bonus ball to win her 20 dollars. balls.

we're on the 'moe' pass, dad, which means the next stop was taupo. we stopped on the way to see hukka falls which is an amazing passage of water. it's a bit like the strid at bolton abbey but about 300 million times bigger. there's basically a shitload of water trying to get through a gorge only 3 metres wide. the force of it all was amazing and the water was a beautiful turquoise. you'll get the photos soon, parents.

taupo was a bit of a chillout for us. there's lots to do if you've lots of money to spend but we haven't so we mainly drank coffee, wandered about a bit, hugged maori doormen and phoned our mams whilst a bit pissed at 1 in the morning. fun. we did go see marie-the-essex-girl attempt to do a skydive but the weather meant that it got called off. we just pretended she did it instead.

after taupo came the tongariro crossing. bluddy hell! whoever said that it was a 'challenging but doable hike' needs shooting. there i was in my fleece and trainers and ended up bloomin' mountaineering up bluddy mount doom and everything. 'twas not what i was promised. we were scaling up steep rock faces, traversing snowy plateaus, climbing snowy mountain faces. it was cool when we got to the top, though, cos the rock was all warm, what with being on the top of an active volcano and all that. you sat down and it warmed your weary ass. i had a mars bar and a strong sense of satisfaction. however, the worst was to come. you think once you've reached the top of a bluddy great thing the worst is over, but no. walking over the summit, we came to basically a sheer drop of gravelly slipperyness which we had to get down. those in walking boots were struggling. 'twas a right nightmare. luckily i had my saviour in the form of dutch margo (who i'd just met on the walk but quickly became my bestest bestest friend during the duration of the hike) who helped me down. i clung on to her hand and we slowly made our way down, avoiding falling down sheer drops into a chasm of death below. it was beautiful, though. we saw the emerald lakes that were such a bright turquoise. and the views out across new zealand were amazing. we could see lake taupo all those miles away. and once we'd got down the descent of death and across a couple of snowy slippery paths, it became more certain that we would survive. the worst bit, really, was getting to the hut off the mountain and still having a two hour walk downhill through woods to the car park where the bus was picking us up. how my legs killed and my shoes rubbed. you just had to keep chatting about shite with your fellow sufferers to take your mind off the pain. the woods would have been really pretty but all i could think about was getting to the end and sitting down. we finally made the 10 miles in 7 hours 15 minutes (it was said it would take 7-8 hours so i think we did alright, even if we were the last group on the bus to make it back). but i felt really chuffed with my little self afterwards. i suppose it's like childbirth in that you quickly forget how difficult and traumatic it was. we went for a celebratory steak at a local pub in the evening and the hostel was new and gorgeous with fab showers and a warm open fire which made it all cosy. bliss. i've been unable to walk properly since the walk, though. i feel like my knees are really weak and that my legs might snap backwards when i'm walking. i feel like, basically, i'm walking with someone else's legs. not since i learned to walk have i concentrated on simply just walking normally. it's been weird. but it's getting better now. i never slept so well as i did on that night of the hike.

so we're now in wellington, the capital. it's a beautiful city. right on the harbour with lots of hills and great lookout points. i really could live here as it's not too big, smaller than leeds, i think. it's a bit like san fran with it's steep roads and cable cars. and it's soooo windy. haven't seen much yet as rach is suffering a bit at the mo. we spent yesterday getting to know the new zealand dental system very well as she's having a few problems with her teeth. and then, to top it off, she has now caught marie-from-essex's cold so is now holed up in bed, poor love. i made comfort pie and mushy peas for tea last night (how expensive are mushy peas in nz?!) and i've been force feeding her lemsip today. is a bit shit for her. hopefully she'll feel better soon. it's no fun being ill and in a hostel. will go and make a cup of tea for her now, don't worry mrs p.