Tongariro National Park
Whakapapa Ski Field
I'll do a post soon on the hospital, but so far it has been a great experience. I'm working with 3 surgeons, and they are all fantastic. I've only done 2 cases so far but it's going to be a really busy week ahead, so I'll post soon about the hospital.
This weekend, we went on an adventure in Tongariro National Park, a few hours outside of Auckland. It's the only public spot in the North Island where you can ski, and since it's still winter here, we decided to give it a shot! The ski field is called Whakapapa on Mt. Ruapehu, and it's a volcano! One of the best parts is that it faces Mt. Ngauruhoe, otherwise known as "Mt. Doom" in Lord of the Rings. It was AMAZING. The views were fantastic until a cloud rolled in - see below. The skiing put our somewhat mediocre ski skills to the test, but we mostly managed to avoid the expert hills (only had to inch ourselves down a couple times...) with just a couple minor spills. Overall it was definitely a success!
Mt. Raupehu as we were driving in: The landscape was so interesting. It was somewhat tropical looking at the bottom (but chilly), then all the sudden we were in a forest, then in volcanic rock area at the base of the mountain, and finally up to the snow.
Mt. Ngauruhoe ("Mt. Doom")
Kiwi Crossing!
Mt. Doom in the distance
Starting to get a little cloudy
"Mordor" :)
Our little car made it up to the hill. Must be those Goodyear Tires on it!
On the way back to Auckland, there was a lot of rain but we stopped at Huka Falls. It's hard to capture how fast these rapids were flowing!
This is how the landscape looked most of the way back to Auckland - rolling green hills. There are cows and sheep everywhere - but Ross noticed that there are very few barns since the weather is nice most of the year.
We passed by Hobbiton, the movie set from Lord of the Rings (yes we are nerds!) on the way back, but it was too rainy and getting too late to stop - but I know we'll be back! So many more places to explore :)
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