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Road Trippin' - National Park

The next stop on my way to wellington was called National Park. Near here is Tongariro National Park; the first nat'l park in NZ and I think the fourth in the worls or something? Anywho, here i did about six hours of hiking on two different tracks. One track went to a waterfall called Taranaki Falls - absolutely amazing. the whole time i was hiking, i was taken away by the scenery, it was breathtaking. at the park there is the largest mountian, Mt. Ruapehu and two other moutains that are just WOW! Most the time i was hiking in silence, and that made it even more amazing. Just the sight of the moutain, the fields, bogs, hills, falls, rapids, etc. I felt like i was seeing areas where Lord of the Rings, the princess bride and Chronicles of Narnia were filmed. It looked just like it!! Totaly cool!
The second track i went on I saw these things called Golden Rapids. The turbulent rapids make the rocks release caron dioxide which makes this chemical called alumino-sulfocate? cause the color of the rocks a yellowish gold color! WAY cool! then i got a bit lost, took a wrong turn and had to return the way i came, which made this hike last 4 hours as opposed to 2! LOL oh well good exercise!
At National Park I slept at a campground that only had a drop toilet, not a flush one and two sinks. Very low facility campsite....only cost me $4 a night! not too shabby. I had a tent, sleeping mat and bag and food so no worries, but the first night as i was setting up my tent, it starte raining, so all my stuff was wet! was not the bst sleep, but then the next day was great, but i was freezing all night....but then again, what do you expect for $4 a night!?!
Next stop: WELLINGTON to see marty!

Posted by laurakwik on 2009-01-03 03:30:22 | Rating: