A blog recounting the adventures of Justin & Dana's 2017-2018 world-wide jaunt. With pictures!
One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor
We careened north from Wellington in our trusty mega-van, excited to be spending the night at Tongariro National Park, aka Mordor! All the land we’d seen so far in the North Island was pretty flat, with occasional rolling hills. But then in the distance, out of the clouds reared a huge volcano.
The majestic Mount Ruapehu, surrounded by old lava beds.
We spent the night just outside the park, then the next morning went in search of some good hiking up on Mount Ruapehu.
Our campsite outside the park. Not a bad view to wake up to!Yep, it's starting to look like Mordor! Hard to see in the pics are the dozens of tiny waterfalls pouring down the cliff faces.Looking for strategically placed rocks so we don't have to get our toes wet...The forbidding view. It's a whole lot prettier than Mount Doom, though!Whew, that was a steep hill!Aaaaand Dana's been walking too long. I think I'm doing my best... rock... impression?
There was a ski resort on another part of the mountain, so after our hike we headed up there to explore. It looked a little forlorn with no snow around (except a giant mound of snow they were making in the parking lot…which was melting just as fast as it could so not sure why they bothered). A few scenes from Mordor were shot right here, near the ski resort! It kind of took away from the mood to have a ski lift right in the middle of the Black Gates.
The very un-snowy ski resort. They must need a ton of snow to cover all these nasty sharp volcanic rocks. The Black Gate scenes were shot down in the ravine on the right side of the photo. Needless to say the area looks nothing like in the movie. Hurray for CGI!I think we found another LOTR fan.The shoulders of the mountain stretching away from a peak behind the ski resort, with another volcano in the distance.
After we’d been suitably awed by the scenery in Tongariro, we started heading north again. We had two days until our van needed to be in Auckland, so we wanted to pack as much as we could into our final full day with our own wheels. We had heard about the fabulous cave systems in Waitomo, and with the help of a very kind xmas present from Dana’s parents, we were able to take tours of three of the big caves.
Our first tour was of the Waitomo Glow Worm Cave. We weren't allowed to take photos on the tour because the worms are very sensitive to flash, but here is our guide disappearing back into the cave at the end of the tour. They put everyone in boats and you glide through an underground river, admiring the constellation of glow worms above your head. This was by far the most popular tour, and also our least favorite because it's only 20 minutes long.The next cave was a short drive away, and was called Ruakuri Cave. These caves are sacred to the Mauri people, because they often used them as burial grounds for their people. The entrance to Ruakuri is an old burial ground so could not be used for tourism purposes. A new shaft was drilled into the cave from the surface, and that's how we descended into its depths, via a spiraling walkway around the shaft. Makes for a cool photo too!Some of the fantastic formations.Glow worms! They use the glow lights in their butts to attract bugs who fly towards the light in the pitch black caves, and then catch them on these sticky strings so they can slowly devour them alive. Apparently its one of the worst ways to die in the animal kingdom. But yay glow worms!This was the original shaft that the cave discoverers came in. These are just models to show how immense this room is.Beautiful stalactitesCheesin' for the camera.How deep does it go...?
The third and final cave system we got to explore was called Aranui Cave. This one was nearly as huge as the last, and full of just as many stunning formations. One of the really cool things about these tours is that they’ve been going on for over a century now, and the guides are still from the same Mauri families that started leading the tours for curious tourists in the 1900’s.
The lovely cathedral (meaning the tallest room in the cave) in Aranui.Most of the formations in this cave were snowy white from the minerals leaching through the soil.Oooh aaaaah.
After traipsing about in the clammy dark of the caves all morning, admiring some of the largest cave systems we’ve ever had the privelege to explore, we hopped in the van for our next adventure. About an hour away, a land of idyllic rolling hills, green grass, and blue skies awaited us. Hobbiton!!!
