Racing up the North Island

The last week has taken us across Cook Strait to Wellington and all the way up to Auckland. We only left just over a week to take in the sights of New Zealand's North Island as we leave for Australia shortly. We had intended to do a two day tramp up Mount Holdsworth which is a couple of hours north of Wellington. However,we suffered a car breakdown (Mike's friend Jen was driving us there) and hence had to re-think. We headed instead to Tongariro National Park, home of The Lord of the Rings' Mordor. The Tongariro Crossing is said to be New Zealand's finest one-day walk and it did not disappoint. We threw in an extra three hour side-trip to the summit of Mount Ngauruhoe (a.k.a. Mt Doom). I give serious respect to Frodo and Sam because it was quite a challenge- the 36 degree slopes were covered in volcanic rock, scree and dust. I was pretty exhausted by the time I reached the crater. The descent was much more enjoyable as we were able to slide and jump our way down. A huge bonus to our stay in Tongariro was the indoor climbing wall in our hostel which we put to full use. We are now spending some time in and around Auckland before flying across the Tasman.