Diary - Km 1366.9
Volcanoes, canoes and more volcanoes.
After the bikes the trail went over Tongariro crossing, right by Mount Ngauruhoe, better known to people as Mt Doom. Finally, mountains! I missed sweating because you are scrambling uphill, not because it’s just so.fucking.humid.
But after the crossing it was back to so.fucking.humid, because we were given canoes and set off on a 4 day trip along Whanganui river, so for 4 days I paddled chai-colored waters, hauled barrels up muddy banks to the camps, slept in a convent (yup) where I found a piano (yey) and a LOTR book that I read on the convent’s roof with mountain views.
And now I’m on a side quest. Decided to go off trail to visit Mt Taranaki and spend a night in Syme Hut, which just added to my “curious places I’ve slept in” list (i don’t actually have a list). So I scrambled up vertical scree in my grip-less shoes, because I’ve walked the soles into non-existence, wet from the cloud I was traveling in, until I was above the cloud. Above all clouds. Am I a bird? Am I a plane? That was a good sunrise. I think maybe the second one I saw since the start. In 42 days to be precise. Why? Because New Zealand is surprisingly cloudy. And humid. Very humid. Did I mention just how humid? So.fucking.humid.
My tent just never really dries, because it either rains from above or from inside (condensation).
It’s raining as I write this. But I’ve got a hugeass Cadbury bar, so for now I don’t really care.
Tomorrow I go back to trail.
It’s been a great week.
