Okay, so I got it wrong. Mt Doom was Ngauuhue and the mountain we were on was
Ruapehu. I found that out when we visited the Château in Whakapapa and took the cable car
up to the top. A very nice chap told me which of the three volcanic
mountains it was. And he imparted another snippet of information, the cable car
was 1.4 km long and the longest in New Zealand. Of course, we had to
go on it, up to the highest restaurant in the Southern Hemisphere to
admire the views and go for a walk. Well, I didn't, Ian went for the walk. It
was the snow covering the route that put me off. Never one to be very
sure on one's feet, I had visions of me sliding down the slope. Ian
went off alone while I sat and watched, hoping that he didn't slip (I
did have a camera at the ready just in case) Anyway we spent a very
pleasant couple of hours before descending back to the warmth. Yep, it
was bl**dy freezing at 2025 m above sea level. I felt positively
faint through lack of Oxygen.
Another waterfall beckoned. Taranaki, a mere 3 km hike (or tramping
as the NZ’ders call it) which would take roughly an hour. Ha..3km
in an hour! don't make us laugh. We should do it in about 45 minutes
but oh...up dale, down dale, those blooming steps nearly killed me
off. So yes it took an hour, but was it worth it? Well, we came to some
falls and both looked at each other in dismay. Was that it? All that
way for a trickle?
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| Mt Doom in the distance. |
Fabulous!
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