Today we are saying goodbye to Roto Rooter and hello to Wellington. But first, we must pass through the dreaded Mordor... no, not really. But we will pass through Whakapapa. Bwhahaha!
No, really. We will.
First Stop: Huka Fallas
Our first adventure for the day was Huka Falls. We took a short walk to the lookout to stretch our legs and take a few pics.
Then a short drive to the falls lookout point with a few of our close tourist friends. Outside of a city and Frans Josef Glacier, this is the most people we would see together at one site. Look past the people, Friends, to the foam caps emptying into cool, teal blue water.
I've also since learned that it's the most visited natural attraction in NZ. Interesting. That explains the horde of tourists. And yes, Huka Falls is super cool. But... it's not the most interesting natural attraction in NZ. By far not the most interesting or beautiful. But whatever, tourists.Snap, snap. Ogle, ogle. Check. On to the next beautiful scene.
We head on south to Taupo on guess... Lake Taupo. Taupo is super cute. The downtown area overlooks the lake and we stop for a quick cuppa. We wished we'd stayed here, and not but an hour south of Rotorua. Anywho, the past is the past, and we're still in freakin' New Zealand and sighting beautiful waterfalls everywhere. Yep, keep reading, we find another beautiful fall.
Approaching, but never quite arriving at Mount Doom
You know how in LOTR they are always approaching Mount Doom, but never quite arriving? They end a scene, with relief that they are so very close, but panning out, that darned mount is still way off in the distance. Be realistic people. It's not like Frodo is just gonna skip over and toss that ol' ring in the pit in the next half hour.Approaching Mount Ngauruhoe, aka Mount Doom, is like that. Yep, just like that.
At this point, I am cackling in a frenzy, so excited to see THE MOUNT DOOM!
See Jayme is clearly on his way, but just. not. quite. there...
See how almost perfectly cylindrical the top is? That's why Mr. Jackson chose Mount Ngauruhoe as Mount Doom. It's like a perfect volcano. A perfectly functioning stratovolcano. Apparently a young stratovolcano, with the last eruption in 1977. Like yesterday. It erupted 45 times in the 20th century! 45! Wikipedia says it's a level 0 -- meaning unlikely to erupt. But whatever. Active volcano, and we're traipsing around, enjoying the marvels. Needless to say, we did not tarry long. Well, not true. We may have checked out Tawhai Falls and a nerdy LOTR site. We were living on. the. edge. #YOLO
Mount Ngauruhoe is not the only mount in Tongariro. It's one of three and not the tallest peak in Tongariro National Park. Guess the name of the tallest peak? Bingo, Mount Tongariro. Sensing a theme here, eh? Mount Ruapehu is the other. Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in NZ, and the 6th national park established in the world. That's neat.
Second Stop: Tawhai Falls
We wind our way down SH1, on the way to Whakapapa Village to see if we can't get a closer look at Mount Doom. We spot a lookout for Tawhai Falls...AND I've learned from my handy dandy LOTR Guidebook that it's also where Gollum caught fish while Faramir and his boys spy on him. Bam.
It's another lovely walk to a very lovely waterfall that tumbles over an ancient lava flow. Amazeballs.We had fun tramping around and exploring a bit, checking out the lava flows, yo, and the frothy rapids and teal waters.
No, I jest. Too tall. That's a guy from The States.
Third Stop: Chateau Tongariro Hotel & Whakapapa Village
Loads of water + waterfalls make for plenty of bio breaks. So we check out Chateau Tongariro, also where the LOTR actors stayed. Aiyeee! It's located smack dab in the middle of nowhere or so it seems... you're driving along admiring the mountains in the distance and then there it is, perched at the foot of Mount Ruapehu. It was built in the 1920s and fun to roam through looking for the loo.The folks at Chateau Tongariro have a movie theater. You know why? Cuz there's nothing else out that way except nature. But I don't think showing dated kiddie movies really counts as a worthy movie theater experience in the midst of volcano-ville. The show is outside, folks... in Mordor!
Really, can't you see Mordor in this landscape of volcanic rock and dusty ash?! It was in these bluffs that orcs attacked the valiant Alliance.
And I brought home an illicit Mordor rock in my make-up bag. #rulespfft!
Whakapapa Village, an alpine skiing community in the winter months, was under construction. Navigating cranes and large construction equipment was not on the daily agenda, so after scoring a Mordor memento and putzing around a bit, we headed out to the next stop.
Mordor, we wish you good day.
Fourth Stop: Mangawhero Falls
We're driving out of Mordor, and into the southern end of the Tongariro National Park. We pass through the quaint village of Ohakune up to the Turoa Ski area along the Ohakune Mountain Road Scenic Drive (hilarious, cuz that's rather obvious) seeking out another LOTR site. This one, also a fishing site -- this time it's Smeagol fishing -- at the top of Mangawhero Falls. We also located an open glade where they filmed some of Sam and Frodo's travels.
The road is rather rustic, which only makes us feel like we're really oan an adventure!
See, our trusty hatchback is the only car in the lot... it's quiet here. Just our kind of place.
We wander around looking for Smeagol's exact fishing spot, and we think we found it. Either way, we are enjoying exploring along the trickling stream.
It's about 3:30pm by this time and while we could keep exploring, there's a 3-hour drive ahead of us to Wellington. We press on.
The drive to Wellington is lovely pastoral scenery of farming lands. The foothills of the Tongariro Range are soft, rounded hills covered in green blankets of lush green grass. They look like tumbled runnels of soft earth with terraces spaced throughout.
Wellington
We arrive in Wellington about 7:30pm. It's raining. We're tired and hungry and having trouble finding hotel parking. It's located on a half street -- wait, what's a half street? -- so we circle two or three times. There's no place to pull over, and Wellington is a proper downtown like other big cities -- streets are one-way and folks want to get where they are going without gawking tourists holding up progress. Finally we figure it out, and are checked-in and open the door to what feels like the Doubletree Wellington palace. A huge king-sized bed in a clean, opulent room. We are in heaven. Jayme's like, screw dinner, let's just hang out in the room. But that is not on the tourist list.We head out to Cuba Street for dinner. Cuba Street is a mecca of trendy, hip shopping and tastes. So naturally, being hip-ful trendsetters, we must check out the digs on Cuba Street. It's a pedestrian mall, and busy with young hipster folks out and about. People watching was fun.
Trusty Google recommended Loretta's for dinner, which features chickens on their menu and signage. Well, great. Pictures of the live version of what you're about to eat is weird. But, your call, carnie Friends. Finding a menu that satisfies both BooBoo + the Honey Badger is a 30-minute endeavor, so at this point, we pick something.
You know there's just something about Saturday night. Like everyone wants to go out for dinner or something. Even on the other side of the planet, Saturday night is a thing. Needless to say at 9:00pm Loretta's is packed. That must mean it's a shiny pick, right? They squeeze us in, which is a good thing, cuz we are about to eat our own arms for dinner. I opt for salad and bread. Eyebrow raise from the waitress. Just for that, I plan to eat the whole loaf on my own. Jayme ordered pasta of some sort. Bueno.
We wander blearily back to the palace, looking forward to clean sheets and a good night's sleep. It's a super early day on Sunday to catch the ferry to Picton on the South Island. Good night, Wellington. We wish we'd had more time to explore. Weta Cave, I'll be back.
In the next episode, the hair-pin turns begin.
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