Tongariro Crossing: blisters, bad smells and banana muffins

Yesterday was the best day of the trip so far. We drove H's trusty car into the mountains and yesterday we joined the hoardes on the bus at 7:45 am to start the Tongariro crossing. Classed as New Zealand's best one-day walk this is a 17km trek up through volcanoes in Tongariro National Park - passing craters, bright blue smelly lakes and steaming rivers.

It was class but boy did it hurt! We hired equipment from the hostel which meant that the boots on our feet weren't ours - Pete had a HUGE blister after about an hour, bless him. He didn't moan at all, even though he had another 6 hours of walking to go! We started out in bright sunshine and T-shirts but as we climbed into the cloud and super-strong winds at the summit we put on 5 layers. I did a nice look in Michelin Man! Lunch was looking out onto the Emerald lakes (in the pictures) and then we skidded down the volcanic rocks onto the blue lake. Even with the number of people doing the walk at the same time it was still stunning. My mam always says that downhill is worse than uphill and boy, is she right (mams always are). Uphill was a real struggle - downhill, with sore feet and aching legs, was just nasty. But we finished with a big smile and were given sausages in the hostel by a nice American man. Which is always a good way to end the day! We've got the exercise bug now.. and we've just booked a 3 day self-guided kayak trip where we camp or stay in National Parks along the way. I will be supermodel thin by the time I leave NZ. Watch this space!