NATIONAL PARK - It's Wet and Cold, It Must be my Birthday

There's a grey and white cat here in the Ski Haus, National Park village, which sleeps for about twenty hours a day. Whether it's curled up in the corner of the couch, or slumped in front of the roaring fire. I've seen it poke its head up occassionally when burgers from the bar across the street find their way into the main room. But aside from that, it's a lethargic life for this little cat in the summer season Tongariro National Park.

In the winter months this place would be heaving with skiers. And snow. Instead, it's the summer. Which means its practically empty. And raining. Remember I mentionned the randomness of New Zealand mountain weather? It's been a particularly grey couple of days here, which makes me jolly glad Bronwyn, Chris and I saw many of this region's highlights last week. Which has meant I've spent a pleasant couple of days curled up next to the cat, reading half a dozen books and popping out for the occassional mad dash up the nearest footpath for a couple of hours before the sky opens again.


Cat and fire at the Ski Haus. Cozy.

The reason for the not-so-great weather is, of course, that it's my birthday. Nature has a way of telling me that it has noticed I've survived another year in the midst of it. And, therefore, I have suffered many a rained out walk to either a student newspaper office or a chaplaincy over the past few years. This does not surprise me. And it's good to have a little time to sort through bags and photos from the past few weeks.


The spooky, sulphorous delights of the Craters of the Moon.

Leaving Taupo (waterlogged, messy, not-very-nice little town on the edge of Lake Taupo. Don't bother with it, I say) with the Aussies last week we stopped off at a Department of Conservation administered geothermal area called Craters of the Moon. The centre of the North Island is riddled with all manner of geothermal activity - remember those volcanoes I was wandering around a couple of posts ago? - with geysers, mud pools and hot spas just a short tourist trap away. Craters of the Moon is Government protected, though, and thoroughly unexploited. Basically it's a collection of steaming craters and mud pools in an easy to navigate landscape. And it's an eerie place to go wandering for a morning. Kinda like spending the best part of hour in the kiddie playground area of hell.


Another geothermal attraction, this time a hot water stream at Ketachi, towards the end of the Tongariro Crossing.

Astoundingly, the weather is beginning to clear so I'm going to grab my waterproof and make for the intriguingly titled 'Fisher's Track' just a few hundred yards outside of town (and by 'town' I mean 'down the street') I would ask the cat to join me but, well, I've been typing furiously for the past ten minutes and he really doesn't seem to care very much. He's probably seen more rained out days than I have, and I bet he's not twenty four.


Sunset just outside of Auckland.