Time to strap on our packs

Up until now we have been doing LOTS of driving so that we can see lots of the sights. We decided it was time to do a 4 day hike. We chose Tongariro National Park. It was New Zealand's first established national park. We began our hike on Friday afternoon. On the first day we had to cross many streams. On of the funny things about hiking in New Zealand is that they rarely give you distances but give you the time the hike will take. The first day was an estimated 3hrs. We met 2 German guys that we became friends with and hung out with throughout our 4day hike. On Friday night we set up our tent and had a quite Shabbat dinner as we watched the sun set over the mountains. At one point our tent blew away and Sara had to run after it...it was a funny sight to watch. At one point during our dinner, all I could do was jump up in excitement for the amazing place that I was able to spend Shabbat in. We even had grape juice and did motzi over crackers. We got up early on Saturday for our hike. Little did I know how intense the day would be (mom, I'm not sure if you want to read this). There was lots of steep uphills. We were doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is one of the most popular hikes in New Zealand. After some time, we got to Mt. Ngauruhoe. For those Lord of the Rings fans, it's Mt. Doom. It's a volcano. It was rocking and sandy also very hard to climb. I went up with our 2 German friends. It felt that for every 3steps up I went 2 steps back. It was soooo exhausting but worth the view once I got to the top. We walked around the top of the volcano. There was steam coming out and snow on the top. We had a snow ball fight. Going down was very scary. Probably one of the scariest times in my life. I had to walk straight down the mountain. I was skiing down on my boots. At one point I heard the people above me yell rock. I look behind me and saw a softball size rock going flying past. About 15 minutes later, they started yelling again. I looked back and saw a rock about 5x the size of a football coming at me. I was on my toes and my body was going back and forth deciding which way I needed to go. Luckly it just missed me and I began to yell to the people below. My heart was still racing for most of the way down. At the bottom I met up with my German friends and we were all thankful that we didn't get hit. After a short break we continued walking. The scenery was amazing. We pasted Red Crater and the Emerald Lakes. It was a constant up and down hill walk. By the end of the day, I was pooped and my feet hurt. The next day had us doing more walking past breath taking scenery. We went through about every terrain on the hike. One of the best parts of the hike was staying at huts and meeting lots of people. I even got a German grammar and geography lesson from Malte.  There are sooo many Germans here so maybe it'll come in handy.  We met a guy who hiked with a basil plant.  It was a tough hike but I think the plant suffered the most.  By the time I saw it, it needed water.  In the huts it felt great to sit around and relax after a long and great hike.

We had a great 4 day hike and were sad to leave our German friends, Malte and Florian but we have more adventures ahead. We're both looking forward to going on more multiday hikes to see different parts of New Zealand. It's a great way to really see the country.

Farewell for now...