From Hobbiton to Mordor, to the depths of the Earth

Just a couple of things have happened in the last two weeks.

We went to Hobbiton and checked out the view from Bag End. The hobbits were a little shy about photographs, but they let us hang out in their hobbit hole.

The Party Tree, the Green Dragon (pub) and the Mill.

Sara, Antony and me as hobbitses.

Then we drove south to Rotorua, an area known for active geysers and hot springs.

Geyser Lady Knox, Wai-O-Tapu

After two glorious nights in a hostel in Rotorua, we continued our journey south along Lake Taupo and set up our tents in the Kaimanawa Forest, a very short drive from the Tongariro National Forest.

New Zealand has several Great Walks in the country, known to be some of the most beautiful walks in the world. One such walk is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a trek that takes you across the Nat'l Forest between several active volcanoes. The views are stunning, from fields of volcanic rock to misty mountain sides.

Also noteworthy is the presence of Mt Ngauruhoe, more commonly known as Mount Doom. It is where several of the scenes were filmed where Frodo and Sam were climbing Mt Doom in Return of the King. I don't think I heard one single person refer to it as Ngauruhoe - we all had our priorities.

When we departed on the trail at 7 am (we had to arrive by 6 am to guarantee a parking spot at the trail head) we said that we would hike until the turn off, then decide whether or not to attempt to summit the mountain.

As my companions will attest, I was always determined to climb to the top. Who walks by Mt Doom, says, "Oh, that's pretty" and doesn't hike up it? Where is the respect?

After 2.5 hours of walking on the beautiful, mostly uphill trail to the base of the mountain, we had a decision to make.

3 hours later, we were on top of Mt Doom.


It was a great climb - the hardest part for me was in the loose rocks. Given that it's a volcano, the steep sides of the mountain are covered in scree, which is loose volcanic rock. Volcanic rock is incredibly light and easy to move around, so once you're sliding on the sandy sides, it can be hard to get very far very fast.

Towards the top it got much easier because it was basically rock climbing. Sturdy hand and foot holds made the ascent much faster and soon enough we were looking out across Mordor. That is, if Mordor was a gorgeous New Zealand scenery of mountains and emerald lakes.

Mt Ngauruhoe - the night before at our campsite.

The ring is getting heavier! (No, Sara's not a huge geek. That's a ring she always wears on her neck).

The incline.

The top!

The selfie descent.

3 hours up, 30 minutes down. The best way down was to skate your way down the steeper sides and let the rock slides take you down.

And then? Then we slept on the ground, and started our next adventure that took us 100 meters underground when we went caving in Waitomo. The pictures can't even begin to explain it, but unless we have a conversation I can't express how amazing it was.

A 100 meter repel, leaping from boulder to boulder, feeding giant eels, free climbing up water falls, canon-balling into pools and laying on your back in the dark, looking at the thousands of glowing specks on the ceiling as the glow worms attract flies to their webs. After a 7 kilometer hike underground, all I wanted to do was start over again.

And all of that? That was 5 days ago. I'll update you on the last 5 days soon. But for now, all you need to know is that life is good. Sara and I are on our own now. We're about to enjoy some sushi in Wellington, then we're off to see The Hobbit in the theater where LOTR had its world premiere. Tomorrow we hop on the bus to Waipukurau to start our farm stay. I can't wait!