Tongariro Crossing

This weekend we went to the Tongariro Crossing in Tongariro National Park. We were expecting to do the hike which is 18 kilometers long and over the most beautiful mountains ever. When we got there, the guide told us that they were not taking trips up the mountains because of snow blizzards. Although we were disappointed, we made the best out of it and did the first 5 kilometers of the hike. We had the most amazing views of Mt. Tongariro, Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt. Ruapehu. It was exactly what I wanted to see! The snow covering the mountains was just incredible! We hiked for a while and were up pretty high when it started to snow on us. We made our way quickly back down the mountain. The snow was pelting me in the eyes. When we got back to the car, we found another hike to do. We stopped to get hot chocolate first though because all of us were freezing! Then, we hiked 2 hours to see a beautiful waterfall. The view on the way was amazing and the waterfall was incredible! We even went and stood behind the waterfall. That was really cool! Then we found a smaller hike to do. It was a long day full of hiking, or tramping as they say here! Then, we went back to our hostel and hung out there that night. The next day we woke up and it was pouring rain! We had the worst weather this weekend but we made the best of it. My friend Alex and I wanted to do mountain biking while the others slept in. We went and rented them and tried going up the trail but the rain was coming down so hard that we had to turn around. You couldn't see the mountains anyway because the clouds were so low they were covering them. We were not disappointed with having to turn around because we were already soaking wet and not happy! We got back to the hostel, made breakfast and got on our way back home to Auckland. We went back through Taupo. I got to drive!!! It was my first time driving on the left side of the road! I loved it. It was really hard at first because it is totally backwards. I kept putting the windshield wipers on when I meant to put my blinker on! It was awesome though. I drove for 4 hours from National Park Village to Hamilton and then we switched. We got out and walked around the Hamilton Botanical Gardens. We climbed a tree and looked at the pretty flowers. It was great! This weekend was amazing! I had such a good time and saw some more of New Zealand's incredible nature. The landscape here is incredible! I love it :)