Lazarow World-Hike-About

Towards Mt. Tongariro Summit Images of a Spectacular day Hello Mates, Wednesday 29th After a night of rest and hike in Whakapapa (we should not pronounce it—it is not ‘pretty’) we moved to Turangi. We’re sure this is illuminating to any reader. Nevertheless, we tackled the elusive Tongariro Alpine Crossing today, the canceled hike of earlier in the week. It’s rated as the best day hike in New Zealand. Should we never hike again, it would be satisfying to know that we undertook this one. An Incredible 'High' We ‘walked’ and climbed over twelve miles in all types of terrain, over 7 hours and accumulated elevation gain of 3,500 feet. Please accept the next comment with a ‘pinch of salt’. We are of the opinion that to discover the Garden of Eden, one does not have to pass through this life. It’s here. One just needs to search in the right places. Slippery Steep Slope New Zealand has suffered a few mishaps recently as you may have read. What with the mining disaster...

Monday 27th: Hike 11 Volcano-created Lake Upper Tama Lake Part of Tongariro Range Wow! What a day. It turned out differently from planned and expected. Twelve grueling miles, five hours non-stop in volcano country—an active volcano area—and we enjoyed every moment. Anyway, that’s what our editor says. After almost recovering from her recent illness, she ‘coughed’ at that volcano with vigor—she was intimidating. (Jenni intimidating?) Every time we felt our muscles crying out for relief, we looked to our editor and remembered to keep the mouth shut. If nothing else, we are learning, albeit slowly. Edgy Editor We reached Queenstown, the one town we can pronounce without hurting our mouths. We had come from Tutukaka, Wanaka, Te Anau and ‘camped’ there for Shabbos. The setting of the town ranks as one of the nicest we have seen anywhere. “Shall we compare thee to a summer’s day?” Probably not. We can only imagine the magnificence should it bask in a warm, cloudless day...

Queenstown-Wakatipu Lake Hi All, Friday 24th We’re back in Queenstown after leaving the very attractive town of Wanaka. Both places are surrounded, joined, linked and separated by many mountains and large lakes. It’s a paradise for anyone with an affinity for mountaintops, bottoms and in-betweens. New Zealand, particularly the southern part, is very attractive. However, there are aspects of this land that are puzzling. The time change of twenty-one hours between it and the west coast of the USA takes getting used to, especially when conducting business between the two. One is always a day ahead or maybe behind, depending where you stand. Then there is the season business. Yes, we understand the hemisphere issue, summer in the south and winter in the north. What is the season in New Zealand when it is winter in America and cold in Kiwiland? Got you there. The weather has us flummoxed. One of the best kept secrets in this part of the world, we think, is: ‘When does summer begin?’ S...

Haunting without Sun Entrancing--Over 4,000 feet up-Roy's Peak “I can’t get out of this sick bed,” our editor complained. We were very worried about her remaining in bed. After all, who knows what you can catch from a sick bed. We felt poorly about our dear editor, especially as we probably passed our ‘flu on to her. There is some downside to this share and share-alike philosophy. Our editor suspected that if she did not send us out to climb, there might be some whining taking place in the room today. Everyone loves a winner but who likes a whiner? “You go do it for us,” she encouraged. We were in two minds. We did not want to be without our dear editor. Who would carry the backpacks? How would we determine when and what to eat…what about when to go potty. We were concerned being without her. Had we recovered our own strength? Nevertheless, we put on a brave face and strode off to climb Roy’s Peak. View of Lake Wanaka from hidden side Jenni-less at Peak Wh...

Tea on our 36th “Give me your hand before you slip…just a little more. Okay, hang on…don’t release…got you. Ease up. I think you’re going to make it. Do you need the rope?” we suggested to our brave editor. We undertook not to take chances when climbing. Let’s hope nothing happens when we try to get off the bed and back down to the bathroom, we thought after hauling our editor on to the three feet high bed in our hotel room. Serious Rock back There--Nice on the finger You may laugh and think that the sixteen miles on the last day of our hike extended us. It may have, indeed. However, that’s not the cause of our current malady. Prior to the commencement of the hike one of us got the sore throat and ‘weak muscles feeling’ while the other, in sympathy, achieved the same state after the hike. So, we are now what is termed: sick-on-the-road not to be confused with sick-of-the-road. This is a real pity because we are ‘raring’ to go. Instead, we are a pair of crocks. What can we do? Nothi...

Kepler Track, South Island Rugged, rough but so wonderful Good Day All, The day dawned, heavy with clouds, but no rain…yet. We made our way to the trailhead, locked the car and set off on the Kepler Track, one of the ‘Nine Great Walks’ of New Zealand. The locals have a wonderful sense for understatement. A walk? We notice the Kiwis are a hardy bunch. Think of it. Less than 5 million people and they have dominated world rugby for years. Okay, off to the track. We had no idea what to anticipate. A Special Place, wind and all At 3300 feet & rising First hour in the forest along Lake Te Anau, followed by a steep climb lasting three hours, all but forty-five minutes in that forest. Breaking the tree line was incredible—like a line drawn separating the forest from the open mountainside. We had immediate views of the lake below and the surrounding mountains and cliffs. Staggering. 9 miles, mostly uphill, 3300 feet elevation gain. When we arrived at the hut, we chose our bedroom su...

Twenty lbs heavier & ready We moved south from Whangarei to get closer to Auckland. Nevertheless, we were still an hour or more from the big city. We like to position ourselves at a safe distance from places of concrete, the multitudes and noise. Of course, it has its drawbacks—we don’t often get to the ballet. Our reasoning was to have a restful Shabbos in a small town and lessen the distance to the airport for our flight to the South island. We allowed additional time in the unlikely event that we suffered a directional glitch. Not possible you might think. Commencement: Trying to look brave All went off very smoothly, for a change. Shabbos was terrific—it is very special ‘on the road’, too. We left early on Sunday morning, returned the rental car, boarded a plane and collected another rental in Queenstown and then drove a further two hours to reach Te Anau—our gateway to the Kepler track. We are about to traipse around the Fiordland National Park for four days, three nigh...