Tongariro National Park, Hobbiton, and Rotorua

Wednesday we got up bright and early to make the 3 hour drive to Tongariro National Park. This is supposed to be the best one day trek in New Zealand and in the top 10 of the world. Unfortunately, it's winter here, and the one day trek across the mountain turns into more than one day, and suddenly you need all manner of special equipment and a guide and everything, so we did not do that.

Instead, we opted for the one trail that was open - a 2 hour trek to Tanaki Falls and back. Of course, I'm sick now with Jason's cold, so this was going to be rough going, but we put on our winter gear (yay Sorel boots) and off we went. Turns out that the day was absolutely gorgeous, so within 10 minutes I had divested myself of hat, scarf, gloves, and fleece jacket. I pushed ahead of Jonathan and Jason since they were actually enjoying the view and taking pictures while I just wanted to finish. Jason has taken more than 1400 pictures so far! We have to edit, but the scenery here is just so beautiful that it's hard to know what to stop taking pictures of!

Anyway, we had a great day hiking on the mountains over the snow and slush covered trails, and got back after dark to Pippa and thankfully bed (for me anyway) where I tossed and turned all night trying to breath.

This morning we got up early again to start out for Rotorua. On the way we did the Hobbiton Movieset tour. This is the only place left in New Zealand where any of the Lord of the Rings sets still exist. There are 17 of the original 34 Hobbit holes still there, including Bilbo's house, Bag End. The farm that they filmed this on is breathtaking. There is literally nothing around it except rolling hills and valleys and streams and sheep and it looks like a painting from all directions. Another beautiful day too, with a blue sky and shining sun. The movie tour was fun and afterwards we watched a sheep shearing and then took off for Rotorua.

Here we went to the geothermal spa first, where I had a mudbath soak, then a sulphur spring soak, and then a massage while the boys toured the park and made wood carvings. Then we all went to a traditional Hangi concert and dinner by the Maori people (which is kind of like a Hawaiian luau) and that was really fun. They needed one of the tourists to act as the Chief of our "tribe" and that person was Jonathan! So we got the benefit of being the chieftan's family, and we got front row seats to the show to watch Jonathan accept the peace offering from the tribal warriors and then he gave a speech. It was pretty awesome and we all had a great time. Dinner was fantastic, having all been cooked underground in a steaming pit for about 5 hours.

Now we're at the Cactus Jack Backpackers for the night....our first time in a hostel type place. (That's hostel as in youth, not hostile as in takeover). Tomorrow we're gong to try to go to Taupo and kayak through the Maori carvings on the lake. It should be another awesome day. I hope I can breathe a little better by then.

More later, with pictures probably not until we get home. Internet is tough here in En Zed.