Tongariro

Sunday was magical, we spent 8 happy hours walking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing with Tom our guide. Tom is an ex chav from Folkstone in Kent and a born again Kiwi. He is a self confessed job slut and at the ripe old age of 32 has been a bar man, entertainment coordinator on a cruise ship, hotel manager and ski instructor. He is also a self taught stocks and shares guy.

This is Mt Ruapehu (I think). Google+ very kindly added the festive twist.

And this is Mt Ngauruhoe aka Mount Doom, how fooking exciting is that!!!

I can't remember the name of this distant mountain but Kirstypops calls it Mt Chicken Teriyaki which is close enough. Tom says to climb to the top is a 10 hour round trip and hardly anybody ever goes; I'm sooo gonna do it after Crimbo:-D 

Tom took us off the main trail because we are fit, 'up for it' Mancbirds, which was a massive bonus as we were away from all the crowds.

We even got to lunch at the summit of Mt Tongariro, the official trail only goes past. Here are the photos...

Behold the might of Mordor, how zero kelvin cool??? 

After lunch we went off the beaten track again and walked on virgin volcanic ash in the south crater. Tom reckons our footprints could still be there in 6 months, I'm just loving Tongariro: D

It is the closest thing to being on the moon.

This volcano erupted on 21st November 2012, Tom was only kilometres away with a group of school kids and had to get them safely down. He was on the news and had his 15 minutes of fame, can't find it on YouTube:(

We did role play it though. This is Tom on the exact spot trying to get a signal...

And some more pictures. The volcano has been smoking ever since which I guess is good signage. 

We had a good laugh with Tom. He and KP nicknamed my look as 'chemo chic', bloody cheek. He also told us that the bus company that transports all the backpackers is affectionately called 'vagina liners' by all the tour guides. That made us howl.

In the evening we camped in this beautiful spot at the foot of Mount Doom, check us out?

And the panoramic view was stunning.

We are currently in Wellington, I'm in the library catching up on bloggingtons and Kirstpops is playing out with her mate Andrea and her blokey Terry. We went out for dinner with them last night, a lovely couple. He is obsessed with Leonard Cohen and they are going to all his NZ gigs. Wellington tonight, we might join them in Auckland on 21st December.

We are off to Rivendell this afternoon, home of the majestic elves. Secretly I would like to come back as an elf, they are so noble and beautiful. Realistically hobbitses are more fun loving and adventurous; maybe I could be a hybrid lol. Gotta dash, meeting KP for lunch in 20 minutes. Much love as always, over and out xxxx