Day 6 - Mount Doom!

We're currently hanging out in a library in Greymouth that has free wi-fi so I thought I'd get a quick blog post in.  I'm already falling a bit behind with blog (currently 4 days behind) so I'm going to try to make this entry more of a photo blog and cut down on the writing (because I am seriously the slowest writer on the planet).

So on Sunday we had a big day ahead of us.  We were hiking the Tongariro Crossing, which is a 19km trek that typically takes about 6 hours non-stop to do.  The cool thing about the hike (at least for me) was that it takes you right by Mount Doom from the LOTR movies.  I was excited.

We had to wake up a little after 6am so we could catch our 7am shuttle to the start of the hike.  So we geared up with all our new hiking stuff and headed out.

Here's a pic I took just before we boarded the bus.  You can see Mount Doom on the left.  The first thing Sharon saw when she looked at this picture was the martini glass (yield sign).

And we're off...

About an hour in...the view behind us.

An exhausted Sharon...going up the Devil's Staircase.

I don't think Sharon will be too pleased that I posted this pic, but it highlights the pain we were feeling going up the Devil's Staircase which is a pretty steep ascent heading up towards the peak of Mount Doom (it is not actually called Mount Doom, but I will continue to call it that).

Here we are finally at the top of Devil's Staircase in much better spirits with a slightly obscured Mount Doom in the background.  At this point I threw Sharon over my shoulder and exclaimed, "I might not be able to carry IT, but I sure can carry you!"  OK, that didn't happen, but was definitely thinking it.  If Tom were there, this would also been the stage for a serious recreation of Sam and Frodo's climb up Mount Doom, and it would have been AWESOME.

Here's a clearer shot of Mount Doom.

Me in front of the three emerald lakes.

 

Here's Sharon making some delicious tomato and avocado sandwiches (thanks Jon and Mere for the tip) in front of one of the lakes, or as I liked to called it the Bog of Eternal Stench (Labyrinth reference, check!)

Finally on our way down!

Me in the rainforest chilling by a creek.

Heading down the mountain was a lot tougher than we thought.  It was very tough on the joints, and really did a number on our feet.  The cool part of going down was that as you went down in altitude, the landscape continued to change.  You start heading down and it's all rocks, then some smalls plants and bushes, then bigger and taller plants and bushes, and then finally you end the hike walking through a rainforest.

At the end of the hike, a very tired Ted & Sharon.

Overall we both really enjoyed the hike.  It was a great challenge, and we were rewarded with many amazing views and sights, including MOUNT DOOM!!!!  After the hike was over, we rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner out and a 9pm bedtime. 

Sharon and I would also like to give mad props to my parents who did the same hike as us two years ago at the ripe ages of 58 and 60.  It made Sharon and me feel very out of shape on the hike.