Weekend of September 1-2: Volcano Skiing

Weekend of September 1-2:  Volcano Skiing
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 :)

Weekend of 25-August:

West Coast:  Karekare & Muriwai

This weekend started off with a trip to the mall.  We visited K-mart (different from American K-marts) where I bought a bike!  This will be an easy way for me to get back and forth to work each day, since it's about a 25 minute walk through a big park with a great biking route (photo below).

My walk to work is through a big park called the Auckland Domain - parts of it look like a rainforest, it's really pretty.  We joined a gym this weekend that's right on the route home from the hospital.

On Saturday evening we went to the All Blacks game - we had a big victory against the Australia Wallabies.  A highlight was The Haka.

On Sunday, we drove out to the West Coast, about 45 minutes from Auckland.  The way there was on a one-lane winding road essentially through the rainforest - it put the new car to the test.

When we arrived to Karekare Beach, it was stunning.   The coast has black sand, which was old volcanic ash that got sent down the river towards the Tasman Sea and eventually washed up.  There were sand dunes on one side and cliffs on the other, heading out to the sea.

We followed this trail until it stopped - and we realized we had to wade across the river.

The Tasman Sea, black sand beaches.

From the road, we could see the Karekare Waterfall in the rain forest.

Turkey sandwich picnic near the waterfall :)

We drove from Karekare through farm country up to our next stop.  There are sheep EVERYWHERE lining the countryside.

Next stop - Muriwai Beach.   This was the view from our parking spot.

Amazing views from the trail at the top of these cliffs.

Muriwai is known for its Gannet Colony - this type of bird.    They mate in August, and will have baby gannets in the summer.  When the babies are big enough, apparently they fly off to Australia, and then eventually will fly back here to breed when they're older to keep the cycle going.  Gannets were everywhere - they are quite big, and kept soaring right by us.

A cute gannet couple.

Until next week!

Lorena & Ross