Today when we awoke, it was not the cheerful awaking on thoughts of another day exploring New Zealand or our delicious breakfast of leftover crumb cake. We awoke with the overwhelming burden of going to Mt. Doom.
Well…maybe not really – But we did have to get up quite early so that we could have a hike around the caves that we went through the day before (one of the top ten bushwalks of New Zealand – pretty neat). We went through some neat Karst topography and saw some very cool tunnels with glowworms hanging out above them. We got there a bit early and it was still rather dark, but by the end of the walk the sun was just breaking over the horizon and colours were abound (mostly green).
Next we began heading south to Mordor. We drove around appreciating the misty mountains and rolling hills on our way down, only to catch our first glimpse of Mt. _______ one of the two mountains (volcanoes really) used in LOTR. We continued down into the rain and got to the base of the mountains and asked the info desk about hikes around the area. We found out that hiking around them was going to be too long so we settled for two smaller hikes, one around some rapids and a bog and the other to a waterfall and a bog – both complete with forests. We realized that today will be the warmest of our days for now on as we continue to head south. It was the first time we have seen snow in the Southern Hemisphere and were even caught in a very small hailstorm.
The two hikes were very nice! The fog never lifted (I think it got worse as the day went on) and we were both sh-sh-sh-shivering but the landscape was beautiful. Absolutely amazing! We did recreate some moments from the LOTR movie franchise and swapped quotes the entire day. It’s good that we’re both nerds.
After spending the afternoon in Mordor, we heated up old Jax (she got a much needed shower in the rain) and headed out once again. After two hours of swervy roads, thousands of sheep, and a talk on life – we ended up in ______ where we’ve made camp for the night. I’m not sure what took longer, finding the carpark or having to listen to the manager tell us all about the city’s attractions after we told him we’re not going to be here long enough to care (“Well here’s what you’re missing…” Thanks man, I’m also missing 15 minutes of my life, I think they were stolen in this office).
Tomorrow we get to the southern tip of the North Island and on Tuesday morning we catch our ferry to the Southern Island. Our trip is about half-done and it has gone by rather quickly! We’re staying in a more fancier place (not the backseat of our van) the first two nights on the Southern Island which will allow us to do some much needed clothes washing and body washing for that matter. In preparation of the colder days ahead, we bought long-johns the other day (now we look like ninjas when we sleep)
Hope all is well back in the states, see you in 12 days!
Take Care (Jer),
Much Love (Nick),
Over and Out (Jax),
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