Doom day

I woke up rather excited about the day ahead. We had some breakfast and double checked our walking route with the lady at the hostel reception. We didn't want to get stuck in snow or anything. With our bags packed and our lunch made we were ready and raring to go. I was going to knock on the strange girl's door (the one from last night) to ask if she'd still need that lift but we bumped into her at reception. Turns out she wanted a lift but right then. I had told her last night that we wouldn't be leaving until the afternoon (quite a few times) but she obviously hadn't been listening. We felt a little bad leaving her (she'd missed the morning bus already) and saw her setting off to probably hitch hike. I don't mean to sound horrible but it's her own fault. She was trying to stick to a strict schedule which is never wise when travelling and she hadn't checked when the buses were so missed one. I'm sure she was fine. 

We drove down the road, back to Whakapapa where we parked the car in a nice car park (all but one so far have been free) and set off on our hike. We found the path easily and it was very well kept for the whole walk. Much better kept than English ones! We started walking with a close view of mount Ruapehu as we'd parked right next to it. We could see Ngauruhoe on and off as we plodded through lovely heather up and down for around an hour until we reached the Taranaki falls. To get down to the falls we climbed down some steps and enjoyed the view. The waterfall fell from quite a height and the rock face around it continued on down hill for a while. Beautiful trees that looked rather Christmassy ran along beside the rock face. 

We then had the choice of walking back to the car another way that we knew would take us an hour or go on further. Obviously, we wanted to go on further. The walk took us through more heather, displaying Ngauruhoe beautifully in front of us. It was spectacular. Never have I been walking somewhere so beautiful. Every time I looked up at the mountains I couldn't help but be amazed. It helped that the weather was delightful with blue sky and a warm sun. We'd layered up so well but hardly needed any of it. At some points we were walking in t-shirts! We went over bogs (on wooden slats so we didn't get wet feet) and up and down many hills for nearly another two hours before we reached lower Tama lake. This fantastically blue lake shone against the brown of the heather and the white of the snow. It was breathtaking. By the lake was a sign to upper Tama lake saying it would take us another half an hour. It was nearly midday so we thought we'd walk up there then stop for lunch. The walk became a little more tricky with barely a path but more stones that slipped underfoot a bit as you went uphill. There were orange poles to mark the way so we'd never get lost. It was a little windier from the top of this hill that looked down over the upper and lower lakes which sat between Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe so we sheltered near some rocks. We perched there to eat our sandwiches and take in the brilliant scenery. On one side was the beautiful snow topped huge mountain that attracts people from all over the country to ski there, whereas on the other side there was mount doom; nothing more needs to be said. It was my favourite lunch destination from the whole of my trip. For me it beat Fuji. 

Unfortunately, we had to walk back the same way until we reached the Taranaki falls. I felt that time went quickly even though it took us well over two hours to get back there. Maybe the views helped. This time at the falls, after stopping for a quick satsuma, we headed down by the stream. It took an hour to get back to the car but it was very pleasant walking under the cover of trees by little mini waterfalls. 

Finally, we reached the car having thoroughly enjoyed our six hour walk. It was around half 3 so we decided to stop off at Tawai falls which were on our way back to the main road. A five minute drive later and we were jumping out of the car to walk another five minutes down a path to the falls. The reason we wanted to see this waterfall was because a lady at our hostel this morning told us it was used in the Lord of the Rings. It was a nice waterfall but neither of us could actually figure out when it was used. We took some pictures and headed back to the car. 

As it was nearly 5pm when we reached Ohakune we decided to stay there for the night. We found the YHA and checked. This was the nicest hostel ever. It had a beautiful kitchen, a cosy TV room and a hot tub. What more can you ask for! Of course, we tried out the hot tub, mainly because our legs were feeling a little achy. We hadn't been to a supermarket so tea for tonight was pasta with pesto, green beans and cheese. However, since the TV lounge was so nice, Matt decided to nip down the road and hire the Lord of the Rings (the two towers) and came back with a bottle of wine as well. The wine went quite well with our pasta (it was a Marlborough Sauvignon blanc) and when we put the film on in the TV room a few people joined us. I couldn't hack it though after a long day walking so ended up falling asleep half way through.