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Travelogue 5, in which move on up to the North Island and so to the Tongariro National Park and some real hot activity, before meeting up with some friends in the Bay of Plenty. Finally, its back to Auckland and the long flight home.

beloved friends,

it is very sad indeed, but the truth is that you just received the last travellog as our time downunder draws to an end and we will return to Freiburg on Sunday.

Farida, Ajara and Yashen

nevertheless you are all heartfully invited to celebrate the return of princessgrump on Saturday evening 7th of April and not to forget to celebrate jalal's 45th birthday. make you sure you learn all your travellogs so there is not too much holdup when viewing the hundreds of pictures. :)

but first let me tell you the latest gossip from the travel:

after two days in Wellington we are ready for yet another tramp, so we pick the National Park as our destination, a very active volcanic area and only 5 hour by train. our first train ride in NZ and the most peculiar thing is that we actually have to check in at a counter and our packs are taken into the luggage compartment. so we are on the train only with handluggage like on a plane (just imagine that on frankfurt hauptbahnhof or victoria station).

Mt. Ngauruhoe

the train ride is smooth and i realise that most of the North Island is one big moving, geothermal active rock. earthquakes and vulcanic eruptions are part of life. there are over 15000 registered earthquakes in NZ every year - quite a moving experience i guess :)

we arrive as usual in the middle of nowhere and need to find the shuttle to Whakapapa. there is only one a day and we have still two hours until it is expected. so we decide to hang around a pub with a backpackers next to it. the hostel people try to convince us to stay at their place but somehow we want to get to whakapapa as our planned hike starts from there. we try to phone the bus company to make sure the bus picks us up but every time the connection cuts off.

to make sure the drivers sees us we walk to the main road and wave him in. i have my usual man-with-long-hair-detector on and as a small campervan drives into the road i get a glance of a long-haired blonde man who seems very familiar. i suddenly realise this must be Atmo and Amlas who i know are also in NZ but i assumed them on the South Island. so there in the middle of nowhere (in front of the pub :) where they intended to fill their beerbottles) we meet up and just laugh at the turn of events.

we jump into the van (after filling the beer bottles - geezerstyle!) and drive out to a very secluded campsite and hang out together. next morning we all drive into Whakapapa and we get on our tramp. as atmo and amlas heading also towards Auckland we losely arrange to meet up at yashen and faridas place in Katikati.

The Emerald Lakes

we start off from the village and walk along a stream towards Mangatepopo Hut and then up the valley, climbing over a succession of lava flows from Ngauruhoe. the youngest very black lava flows were erupted from Ngauruhoe in 1949 and 1954. we are climbing up steep to the Mangatepopo Saddle from where the track crosses the South Crater, not a real crater more like a basin in the volcanic forms. ahead we see more recent lava flows (argghh) spilling from the Red Crater which we climb up and sidle along the rim - this is intense. the earth is hissing and steaming in places. when i put my hand on the ground it is hot - this is definetely an active vulcano i am walking on and i start to walk a bit faster.

we have splendid views on Mt.Ngauruhoe (2287m), Mt Tangariro (1967m) and this part of the hike is praised as one of the most spectacular one day walks of NZ (it is called the Tongariro Crossing). we are doing the whole Northern Circuit which includes that bit and more to come.

the Red Crater, still active

i am surrounded by craters and at the foot of the Red Crater are the Emerald Lakes where we decend to. the water is dissapointingly cold - never mind we have still a way to go to our first hut and it is getting late as the daylight saving (summertime) stopped last weekend. from the Emerald Lakes we descends steeply into Oturere Valley and the track weaves into endless forms of unusual jagged lava. it has that walking on the moon feeling - there are no birds, no plants, no sounds (not even sandflies - well we are still on 1300m). with sunset we arrive at the hut which is not too full and a pleasant place to stay.

Mt. Ruapehu on an icy morning

next day we have only a halfday walk to the next hut. we could press on to the next one but then it would mean another long day and we decide to take it easy. the track sidles around the foot hills of Mt Ngauruhoe and up on a ridge is Hut Waihohonu. we get our packs in the hut, grap a bunk and then we are off to explore the surrounding. in the evening we meet the hut warden and a couple of really nice people and it is a cosy hut evening with talks and tales of past hikes. it is freezing cold outside and next morning the water on the outdoor sink is frozen - brrr

Moonscape

the hut warden suggests another route for our finishing day, an off-the-beaten-track route. we happily start off and soon enough i am hanging at the side of huge mountains, walking on scree not being able to get a steady footing in - boy! do i sweat (and swear :). it is extremly difficult to move and in front of me there is endless more of lose rocks to come, i am getting pretty desperate - very reassuring when the rocks you just stepped on, are tumbling all the way down.... as everything in life this passes too and we collapse exhausted on the top and have a rest for the body and the mind.

Near the Upper Tama lakes

Taranaki Falls

at least now we are on top and are able to walk on the ridge of Tama Saddle to Upper Tama Lake, an infilled explosion crater which is absolutely beautiful and not a soul in sight. we climb down to the lake and have a refreshing dip, the sun is shining and the world seems a good place to be. after a bit of a climb we are back on the official track and pass the Lower Tama Lake where all the day walk tourists are. another couple of hours and we are back in Whakapapa Village ready for a cup of tea. after a cup of tea and picking up the rest of our things at DOC centre we are lucky to catch a bus to Rotorura.

we get a stunning sunset on Lake Taupo and arrive late in the evening in Rotorura, the geothermal headquarter of NZ. the first thing that strikes me getting off the bus is the smell. it is sulphur - the smell we liked to produce in the chemistry lesson at school to dip the whole house in an unbearable stink. so we are in sulphur city, full of hot springs, bubbling mud and spas. we crash out in a backpackers and phone yashen and farida to meet up here tomorrow.

Taupo Springs famous geyser

Taupo Springs famous geyser
and a couple of fools

Taupo Springs more minerals and mud

Taupo Springs hot sulphur and mud

next morning we meet up and after breakies we head off to see some real hot bubbling mud. all these areas are active and that is impressive (apart from the smell). in january one of this geothermal mudpools in town erupted and threw hot mud 200m up. we pass the street and peoples front garden are still steaming!!! in the afternoon we visit a polynesian spa which basically means sitting in -guess what - yeah right hot bubbling mud pools. i hop from a 37 degrees celsius pool to 39 and upgrade to 43 to finally end up in 44 degrees - the icecold shower afterwards is a piece of cake. we have lots of fun and at the end of the day we leave smelly Rotorura and head out to Katikati.

yashen and farida have a great place in the Bay of Plenty. the next day we visit Tauranga which is a reasonably big town with wonderful beaches and a great marina and of course a little vulcano tucked away at the side. we have a walk around the Mt and watch the cool surfers in the sea.

on saturday atmo and amlas show up and they all go sailing in the new little sailing boat which yashen got. i stay in the house and enjoy the space and the silence, dooze off in the deckchair and take it easy, because tomorrow we all go on a big sailing boat to swim with the dolphins...yupiee - finally i get to do it.

the weather is glorious and at 8.45 we are all on the boat. it is a special trip as there are a whole group of Maoris onboard to visit one of their islands where there is a dispute they want to settle. nobody apart members from the iwi (tribe) is allowed on the island so we will just anchor in the bay and do some snorkeling and hanging out. apart from our group there are about 6 other tourists.

on our way we run into a big pod of dolphins and we jump into our wetsuits and masks and into the water. there is a railing on the back of the boat to hold on to ( because the dolphins are having young ones we are not allowed to swim freely with them) and i can just hang there, effortlessly gliding behind the boat and watch the dolphins cruising under me, singing their songs and playing - it is great. they are incredibly beautiful.

Breakfast time at Katikati

Dolphins at play

we get to the bay and meanwhile i am totally drugged by the seasickness pills i had to take earlier. we have lunch picnic on deck which i am not the least interested in as my body is in no state to take food, but i enjoy the space and hang out on deck. the guy who runs the boat is really unique and with a big heart - an active enviromentalist who did sail to the greenpeace protests after the French blew the Rainbow Warrior up. we are chatting with him and he is full of stories.
when i have a shower in the evening the ground under my feet is still moving. the next day is spent in leisure at the beach. atmo and amlas move on and we will meet again in Auckland as there is a meditation event at Jivan Mary's where sannyasins from the area come together.

so that is it ... today jalal and me had a day tramp in the national park behind the house. we saw some really big Kauri Trees which are native to NZ but have all been logged, so now are protected and very rare. tomorrow we all go to Auckland, stay at a friend of yashen and faridas and have the event. they go back to Katikati next day and we spent the day in Auckland before flying out to Singapore on Friday... and that is THE END

thank you for being with me on this trip. i am excited to meet you all again - until then i send you all my love and a big hug from

ajara aka princess grump

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On the boat