Day 1 and 2 "Autumn" break and Shannon's trip "Down Under"

Hey everybody!! So my best friend from college was able to come down for about 9 days and visit me in New Zealand!!! We had a great trip planned which started with me picking her up in Auckland on the North Island. I flew into Auckland to meet her there so that we could see a bit of the North Island as I am living on the South Island. Anyway, after picking up the rental car in the nice Nissan Sunny (don't even think we have those up North) we started our 4 hour road trip to Taupo, New Zealand. Taupo is a considerable touristy spot as it boasts the largest lake in Australasia. We started with a 2 hour hike out to Huka Falls and then hit the supermarket for our days ahead. Many of the places we were heading had no supermarkets so we needed to be prepared!!




Day 2 was AMAZING!!! We hiked 19.4km over the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The Tongarior National Park was the 1st in New Zealand and apparently the 4th in the world. I was surprised to hear that being that New Zealand is such a young country but apparently national parks are relatively recent.

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a 19.4km hike over volcanic terrain. It boasts such things as the summit of Mt. Ngauruhoe, Red Crater (still active as you can smell the sulphur), and the emerald lakes (colors due to minerals leaching from the adjoining thermal areas). About a 7 hour trip! Welcome to New Zealand, Shannon!! haha