As travel in Indonesia came to an end, I had one more destination on my itinerary, New Zealand. I have already travelled through New Zealand, but was coming here this time to visit friends who I’d met in London and had returned to Auckland to settle down. My travels here were different as I was visiting people and getting to know Auckland better. Most of my time was spent visiting numerous crystal clear beaches with clear blue skies. Honestly, New Zealand is a beautiful country.
I did manage to get out do some touring with one of my friends. We headed off on a two day adventure. I wanted to try white water rafting again. I had tried in Bali and for the price I paid, the experience I had was okay. The last time I was in New Zealand, I had rafted in Queenstown, which was the worst rafting experience ever. Paid 195NZD to be on the river for 1.5 hours and only experience 5 minutes of rapids. This time I tried to do some research, which sometimes doesn’t get far when it comes to white water rafting. I decided to go on the Wairoa River which is controlled by a dam and can only be rafted 26 times a year. It is advertised as a grade 5 river, but in my experience they always advertise higher than the river actually is. For 110NZD my friend and I headed off. I was a bit weary when there were no safety kayakers, how bad could this river really be?
This river was made up of a couple of grade 4 and 5 rapids along with some grade 2’s and 3’s. The grade 4 rapids were more like grade 3.5 rapids. The grade 5 rapids were waterfalls. One of the grade 5 rapids had a danger spot after the waterfall that we had to try and avoid called the toaster. Our guide explained that if we got stuck in the toaster the boat would be pulled into the water and we would all be sucked in and fall out of the boat. He said that he’d try and steer us away from it, but he had been caught in it 4 weeks ago. He said that if we noticed that he started to look panicked and started saying “Fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit” then something has gone wrong and we were to hold on and get down quickly. He did well that day and kept us out of the toaster by leaping in the boat to shift around the weight so that we stayed out of the toaster.
Always up for new experiences, when offered the opportunity to float through a grade 2 rapid, the whole group was on board. How to make a grade 2 rapid exciting, don’t use a raft. The instructions that were given to us was to lie on our backs with our legs out straight because if we bend our knees, our butts will hit rocks. You’ll see a wave approaching you, take a breath before the wave comes and hold your breath. You will go under the water. You will take on water. Hold your breath for 10 seconds and it will be over and don’t hyperventilate and don’t panic. So I jumped into the water. My knees were straight, but my butt was still hitting rocks. I saw the wave approaching. I took a breath and went under water and surfaced. Then I saw another wave, took a breath, went under water and surfaced. There was another wave right above me, breath, under, suface, next wave, breath, under, surface. Now I was taking on water and I was starting to hyperventilate, I was telling myself to not panic. Fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit. Finally after what seemed like an eternity it came to an end and I survived.
After the rafting, we went onto do something very kiwi, freedom camping. In our station wagon, we converted the trunk into a double bed with mattresses, blankets, duvets and pillows. This is the way to travel New Zealand, forget about camper vans just convert your car into a tent and it’s free accommodations! We learned that when you sleep in the trunk of a car, with every turn, the car bounces up and down. I can assure that although our car was bouncing from the outside and our Windows were fogged up in the morning, it was due to a restless night and condensation; nothing else.
After our somewhat restless night in the car, we headed off early in the morning to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. When I was last in New Zealand, I had done this trek before. However, when I did it, it had been raining for days and the walk had been closed. I went on the first day that they opened it and it was misty and there was no view. This time, there were clear blue skies and the views were amazing. The crossing is near where The Lord of the Rings Movies filmed Mordor and there’s even an option to climb mount Doom. Whether in mist or in sunlight, this area just seems like death. The trek is taxing. You start of in a flat bit with sparse vegetation. Then comes the infamous devil’s staircase which I think they redid because it seemed more gentle in its incline, less stairs this time. Then you reach the red crater which marks the beginning of the descent. The first descent is down scree. I remember the last time having no control as I walked with lots of momentum from gravity. I thought I was going to fall of the edge. This time, it felt more manageable, maybe because I was mentally prepared for this. Reaching the bottom of this brings you to what I think is the highlight, the emerald pools. After this, it’s an easy walk downhill for 2.5 to 3 hours.
Mount Doom
Emerald pools
Marcia's Travels 
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