Tongariro National Park that is. Couple of volcanos, looking like Mordor, very much put us in the Hobbit spirit.
We camped here for a couple of nights and hiked a couple of hikes. Of course threatening clouds full of rain decided to burst right as we were setting up camp. Only to leave an hour later after all was nice and wet.
Visitor Center in Whakapapa Village. You can imagine how much fun we had saying that over and over. Whak - a - papa!
Watch out for Kiwi!!!!! Not only is this their national bird, but the natives are also called Kiwi. The fruit, originally a gift from China, was named in honor of and to sound more appealing for selling.
Tawhai Falls short and shady to get us ready for the next hike.
Next up, Soda Springs Track. Sign claims just under 5k and just over an hour. They didn't account for a Drake, which added another hour just to get there. What should have been a two and a half hour hike ended up being twice as long. It was quicker on the way back as we began carrying him.
We found the springs at last!
We hiked in the valley between volcanos. Clouds covered the tips most of the time, at the very end of our journey, the clouds began to lift. Although there was steam coming from the volcano it wasn't as thick as the clouds.
A very cool hike, we loved the terrain!
Can you see the old lava flows on the side of the mountains? Plus all the volcanic rocks, below.
Duncan is sooooo strong!!!
These Hobbit's elven cloaks didn't so such a great job, we spotted them easily!
Break time to throw rocks into a very tiny stream below.
Is this not beautiful!?!
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