And We Want Spectacular Views if We're to Stay for the Weekend

Hello from Wellington! That's where I am now. And it's a beau

So as I said, we arrived in Tongariro National Park on Saturday. After wandering around in the bus for the day, we were all pretty content to make/buy dinner and then hang out in the hostel with some drinks from the bar. The hostel that Stray stays at in National Park Village is incredible. It's this gorgeous ski-lodgey place with 2 (at least) woodburning stoves in the lobby, en suite bathrooms in every room, gorgeous beds with actual mattresses and fluffy pillows, a sauna, a giant kitchen, a great restaurant and bar on site, super-helpful staff, and pretty much anything else you could ask for. The village itself is a bit tiny, so you have to buy your groceries (if you need some) from this tiny convenience store at the petrol station. But the front windows of the hostel look right out onto the mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking. I'm finishing this entry up in Wellington, which is a lovely city. But, man. Spending a few days in that incredible quiet beauty makes readjusting to a city (even a lovely one) feel like quite the chore. But back to the crossing.

So Sunday we got up at 6am because we were slated to leave at 7am. Got dressed and headed out on a bus to the Tongariro Crossing. It's this crazy 19 kilometer hike across Tongariro National Park, which is home to 3 volcanoes. It's the craziest trek. It started off cold, but we warmed up quickly (I have some great hiking shoes and a fleece that I bought in Auckland, and I rented some hiking pants and a really great windproof/waterproof/superlight jacket). The path starts off flat, just crossing this long stretch of land. At various points there are streams and things (I, naturally, doused my right foot at the first encounter with a stream. Luckily that didn't cause any lasting damage other than the fact that dirt seems to have stuck to the right shoe a bit better than it did to the left one). And there are rocks, of course. Sometimes there was some light climbing. Then you got in to the actual mountain range. Whoever keeps up the park had helpfully put in stairs for the part where you're going up on the mountains. But that doesn't really make it any easier. The consensus was reached that the stair portion of the climb, even though it occurred only about 1 1/2 or 2 hours into the trip was the hardest bit. Not the SCARIEST bit, just the hardest. Anyway, I have a number of pictures taken from various heights that are basically all, "Look how far we've come!" It's a definite adrenaline high. Or at least like a pride-high. I must've said things like, "Guys, look how awesome we are!" and "This is awesome! Bring it on, Mountain!" a number of times. However, the damn mountain...you keep thinking, "Oh, just over that part and we've cleared the highest part!" and then you get over that part and realize that the stupid mountain has been hiding the NEXT hard part. I'm gonna give a shout-out to my good friend Ben, though, who pushed me through a number of fencing lessons and who has generally kept me in shape. Because everyone else was having way more trouble than I was. Even when we started getting to the point where the altitude as well as all the climbing was getting to you, I still felt pretty good.

So we kept going up and up. And we started encountering some snow - at this point, everyone began re-applying the layers of clothing we'd shed on the lower part. So anyone who thought I would miss out on that classic upstate New York November snow was clearly mistaken. There was some snow. Which was delightful. ...At first... Heh, anyway. We took some snowy pictures and kept going up and up. It wasn't so bad, actually, after you got past the stairs. A little bit scary, climbing over rocks with a bit of snow and a rather unsettling drop on the side of you, but not so bad. Then, once you got over the snowy ledge, there was a long flat plain of snow in front of you. Where we picked up conversation some more - when you're climbing over rocks you tend to not be quite so chatty. I think I have a picture of the snowy plain before we got onto it, but none once we were on it simply because I didn't want to remind myself of how long it was. We got to the point where you can choose to stay on the crossing track or head over and climb to the summit of Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom, for you Lord of the Rings fans out there). That was COVERED in snow, though, so I'm more than a little shocked that there were little specklike people climbing it anyway. Godspeed. We chose to stay on the track because we were on a bit of a schedule (we probably wouldn't have deviated from the Crossing track anyway, but the bus driver who dropped us off - not with Stray, with a company that does Tongariro Crossing stuff - was coming to pick us up at the end of the track at 4pm and if we weren't there then, we were out of luck). After the next bit of climbing, we got a view of the Emerald Lakes, which are unbelievably beautiful. There's something in the rock that turns them into this amazing turquoise color. This marks the, I think, highest point we reached. There was an option of going on to the summit of Mt Tongariro but, again, schedule. It was exciting, though. Not only are there these amazing lakes, but you also have the high of getting to the top.

Now. Getting down. This slope was....unbelievably steep. Luckily there was NOT snow here, or else I probably wouldn't be around to type this bit. It was all really loose dirt. So I slid a bit, but never very far and I think I only actually fell once. So once THAT was over, we sat down by the lakes for a while. There was another flat bit to cross, then another lake, and then up again! Now we get to the scary part. Basically, you're on a path on the side of a mountain. Which is a scary idea. There's a pretty thin path and a pretty steep drop on your side. And, oh yeah, covered by about a foot of snow. In general, it was one of those "OK, deep breath. One foot in front of you. Just concentrate on the task at hand" moments. During the crossing, you tend to see the same people a few times - as you stop or they stop, as people catch up on various paths - but at this point, you are all in a single-file line walking on the side of a mountain. Whenever anyone stopped to take a picture, I had to resist the urge to shout, "I'm sorry, some of us are trying not to die. CAN WE NOT STOP SUDDENLY?"

But we made it. We got to a point where the snow had melted, mostly, and there was a lot of mud. One of the times I was grateful that I wasn't the one who had to wash my pants. After that, we got to this hut (possibly a campsite?) that the bus driver had told us was 2 hours from the end. We were delighted to see that we had a solid 3 hours before we had to be at the end. So we sat for a bit and chilled. The rest of the crossing was less remarkable, although a little tougher just because we were out of the really difficult bits and nearing the end and you kind of just felt like it should be over already. However, it was another chance to marvel at the changing scenery in New Zealand. We walked along a section of the park with hot springs, then finished up in some native New Zealand bush. Basically, it was a walk through almost any terrain you can think of, all in 7 hours and 19 kilometers. Crazy.

So we got to the end (discussed how the woods were very Middle Earth, and played around with the idea of spending Monday in the bush, dressed up like orcs to scare hikers) and waited for a while for our bus. Did a little stretching. On the bus back, I received one of the greatest compliments I've received when the German girl in our group commented that I had completely erased the picture of the 'Lazy American' that she'd had in her head. So that was a plus. Although then we spent the rest of the day lying on the couch eating snacks and drinking beer and watching Wedding Crashers. But that was everyone, so maybe we're just Lazy World Citizens.

OK! The next day, Monday, we pretty much did absolutely nothing. There was some consideration of white-water kayaking, but I seemed to be the only one up for it and I was sort of ambivalent, so instead we slept for a long time. Then I read for a while. Then a few of us walked over to the Railway Station, which is also an ADORABLE cafe where we had lunch. Then we walked back to the hostel and...I'm pretty sure that's the most exciting thing we did. I stopped at the petrol station for some food for later and picked up the special Commemorative Edition of Time, then proceeded to sit on the couch and cry my eyes out at every single article. Oh! Politics note! I've mentioned the warm feelings the rest of the world has for Barack Obama, but I think many of you will be pleased to know that Hillary Clinton is quite the favorite here, too. So that's a nice thing. I had an enjoyable phone call with my little sister (that's Allie, for those of you playing along at home), then had a glass of wine, dinner, dessert, and conversation with some people around the hostel. The next Stray bus had arrived, so we met up with some new people and some people from the last bus that got off earlier. So that was nice. But owing to the 9am departure time (and bodies still a bit tired from the Crossing), we all went to bed at a reasonable hour. Got up and came out to Wellington! I didn't do a lot of exploring yesterday - a few of us went up on the cable car to a hill at the top of the city and looked around. Then we went out for drinks with the rest of the bus, as many people were leaving this morning.

Today I went to the national museum, Te Papa, which is absolutely unbelievable. I knew that the other girls who had stuck around in Wellington instead of heading to Picton today were going to be visiting the museum, too, but it's so huge that I'm quite shocked that I actually met up with a few of them. It's incredible, there's just so much. There was a really cool fashion exhibit, and this awesome art exhibit on decreasing your carbon footprint. The top 2 floors of the museum are dedicated exclusively to art, which was very pleasant as well. After I spent hours there, I picked up some sushi for lunch and sat out on the waterfront for a while. I spent a fair amount of time exploring the waterfront here today, which is both larger and more interesting than the harbor in Auckland. I really like it here, although I am having such trouble readjusting to being in a city. It has so much to offer that I am certain that were I to find a job and flat here, I'd be perfectly content. However, the trouble with the Travel First plan is that the idea of settling down and being responsible instead of carrying on to the South Island is practically causing me pain right now. I want to keep traveling!

We'll see how I feel in a couple of days. Traveling on your own is...it's fantastic, really. It's scary as all hell - like right now, I'm pretty much saying goodbye to all the friends I made on the Stray bus. And like when I left Auckland and had to say goodbye to all the friends I'd made there, it's worrying. Will I make more friends? What if I never do? I'm going to be all alone! It's overreacting, I know. I meet new people every day (and, actually, one of my friends from Auckland is now in Wellington). It's just me. It's wonderful, though, to meet all these people. I meet people from all over. It's just scary, every time you get to that next stage. When I left Auckland, I actually thought that leaving Auckland might've been harder than leaving the US. Obviously not as painful, saying goodbye to people I'd known for all of 6 days versus saying goodbye to all of you. But once I'd decided to go to New Zealand, I knew that I'd never forgive myself if I chickened out and stayed home. However, I could get away with staying in Auckland. Still New Zealand, even if I'm not crazy about it. Tempting, to stay where you know, with people you've gotten to know. But then I did, and it was even BETTER than being in Auckland. So I'm absolutely certain that the adventures that lie ahead will be worth the fear I have now.

All right, this entry covered a bit more than the Crossing, which was all I intended to cover. So I'm going to check a few more things on the internet and head up to the room to see what everyone else is up to. As always, I miss you all. Let me know what you're up to!