After our drenching yesterday, we have taken to weather forecasting. What a foolish endeavor to undertake in New Zealand. We have learned never to make predictions but we are about to break that principle: ‘We don’t think the sun will ever shine in this wonderful country again’. We suppose we could be wrong. We also wrote that yesterday’s decision not to face the powerful winds halfway across Tongariro was one that showed our ‘budding’ maturity. What were we thinking? We really don’t want to find ourselves ‘growing up’ too quickly. Where’s the fun in precious life should that occur. Today, we put paid to yesterday’s foolish ‘mature’ behavior and regressed considerably. Whew! For half a day, we were concerned.
We awoke to rain and so did extra business and errands instead of leaving the home. Thinking of home, we have a wonderful couple as landlords who provide accommodation that far exceeds our needs. What we don’t understand is that there is a washer but no dryer. That’s fine except if there’s no sun, what’s a ‘washer-man’ to do. Who said life was easy? Back to the track. Thereafter, we headed for Tihia which trail is unmaintained. No problem; we are used to jungles. This was indeed a jungle. However, on arrival it began to…guess what?...rain.
During our trip to Hawaii, which we have always said retains a similarity to parts of New Zealand, we devised a system for situations like rain or leisure days, as mentioned previously. We rely on the ‘coin toss’ so as to arrive at a random or more objective decision. It works like this. Jen spins the coin: ‘Heads’ means we continue with the hike. ‘Tails’ means she needs to spin again until she gets it correct. Should the coin land on its side, we cancel the hike. We believe it’s the fairest system possible.
We both felt that the hike today of some 1,800 feet in a relatively short distance, with rain, in mud and through streams was an exciting and testing experience. Upon reaching the summit, we were not able to see Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest, the surrounding mountains, a number of other lakes and wonderful scenery. Of course, this was a great pity but it still did not detract from a unique and challenging outing on the mountain. As much as we missed the visibility, the clouds, rain and mist provide beauty that’s captivating in of itself.
Following the unmaintained trail was a good test of our tracking ability, which continues to improve, if ever so slightly. On the way down, the ‘heavens opened’ and monsoon like rain created a stream, which we walked in for at least a third of the descent. We can't remember being so thoroughly drenched.
For two days now, our routine on returning home has been: Enter the cottage (it even has a garage), strip off clothes, load the washer and race off to the shower 'indecently'. We are a little concerned, however. Why is Jenni so good at streaking? She has beaten us both days. Well, this is New Zealand, tomorrow presents another opportunity.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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