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  • Day 478

    So many steps!

    June 9, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    As you can see from the photo of Nick we did not enjoy our early morning wake up. It was so cold this morning and really tough to get out of our warm sleeping bags. I'm actually very surprised that we managed to get ready and arrive at the start of the track by 8:30am. There were quite a lot of cars already parked down the sides of the road and you did feel sorry for the residents who have to tolerate this. Luckily we are not a massive van because the road wasn't very wide so it would of been very hard to negotiate and park if we had been. We soon set off on the path into the forest and began to climb what felt like a never ending staircase. Rather kindly the track has now been covered in wooden steps as the ground is so boggy below but this did mean the whole route was step after step after step. There was also no end to the forest in sight so we had no indication how long this would go on for or how high we'd climbed. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other knowing that it would be worth it in the long run. We knew it was about 2 and a half hours to the first hut on the track so we were hopeful that it wouldn't be steps the whole way up to that point. Unfortunately it pretty much was. The last 20 minutes or so saw us reach the top of the forest and we got our first views of just how high up above the clouds we now were. We did have a nice flatter section here that involved climbing over many rocks and tree roots before one last ascent to the hut. The temperature had dropped quite a lot up here and ice covered the wooden slats. We were rewarded to pretty lovely views from the hut once we made the last steep climb. After a much needed toilet stop and snack we pushed on for the last 15 minutes to the tarns. Taranaki was in full view as we came up over the ridge just beyond the hut and began descending down the other side to get to the small pond where everyone wants to get a photo. It was incredibly icy here with a few frozen over puddles as well. The surrounding bush was so overgrown you could barely see the steps down and Nick did take a little slip at one point. Eventually we made it to the best view in town and even with the ice on the pond it looked breathtaking. We were probably no closer or potentially further away from the volcano than we were last night where we camped but the clear blue skies and icy reflections meant that it didn't matter. It was a challenging climb and we were very sweaty afterwards but it was 100% worth it. Even the early morning was feeling more and more worth it as we saw cloud start to roll in before we descended. On the way down we reached about half way and both overwhelmingly needed to go to the toilet. This meant we raced down the steps pretty much and it's only when you're willing for the end of the staircase do you realise how high you actually climbed. I'm so plesed we have a toilet on board because we both wouldn't of made it driving into town. After a well deserved tea and biscuits back at the van we headed into New Plymouth to stock up on food, petrol and new walking boots for Nick seeing as the sole of his decided to half come off during our walk. We had planned to stay in a freedom camping spot along the coast but after 5 minutes of arriving there were young people riding motorbikes over the grass and we had two suspicious cars drive in very quickly and out again. It all felt very hostile and we got the same impression back at the other carpark we went to two nights ago. In the end we decided after such an intense day we really wanted a good night's sleep so we drove down the Stratford and stayed at a campsite. The amenities are hotel standard and the showers are hands down the best shower I think I've ever had in my entire life! The woman also accidentally gave us a discount and felt she couldn't go back on it so we pretty much got the Wi-Fi voucher we also purchased for free. Sometimes you just have to take the hit of paying for a campsite when you're so in need of a good night's sleep and a shower after a days hike.Read more