nic and toms excellent adventure: Hard climbing and candle wax, part 1

Finally after about 2 hours of puttin these photos up i can now tell you guys what we have been up to......So after loads of 'random stops and searches' at the various airports we went to we finally got to Auckland. Not bad for a city as far as cities go, we didnt hang around for long, as soon as we got our packs in a hostil we went searchin for a van. Luck was on our side as there was a car market right near our hostil, so we checked it out and found the one; 'Charlotte' shes an absolute monster, 4WD and geared up with all the camping supplies we needed, even a kitchen haha!!!

So we set off, down to a crag called 'Karanhake Gorge' we hunted and hunted but true to form we couldnt find the sodding climbing. But we did however find a sweet campsite right by the side of a river in little forestry location, and it was free - happy days!! We met some Kiwi guys who invited us over to their camp for beers and smokes, they were really good guys we spent a couple of nights with them then set off again.

This time we did find the climbing!!!! Wharepapa South (all the w's seem to be pronounced as f's) where we set up camp and wondered off down to the local boulder field for a little taster session, and man is this rock unfriendly to the fingers i got skinned!!! next day we went to a crag nearby called Frogget Edge where we done some good routes about 6 climbs. Next area was Smiths rock where we done a seriosly hard route which was a 22- thats pretty hard, especially only climbing for 1 day prior.Then a well deserved rest day, we decided on a beach about an hours drive away called Raglan, well popular with the surfers, but we really showed them guys up with our boogie board! after a nice 'frying the skin' session we headed back to camp, where we met another climber. His name was Wes from San Diago, California- what an awsome chap. We all went out climbing to Wiappa, and inevitably got lost in the jungle like forest below the climbs we must of walked a good 3/4's of an hour before we actually started climbing. 'Sun dried tomatoes' was the flavour of the day, a sweet 22 climb which relied mostly on balance and a strong head.That was our second climb then -sods law the heavens opened man did it pour down we got drenched but luckily escaped, and then back to camp. We all had a monstrous meal then played a few games of cards, and the main attraction of the evening was watching the candle wax drip off the table forming absolutly incredible staligtites which at one point even touched the ground!!!!that was the most entertaining wax we have ever come across.

Another drive then took place down to 'Whakapapa village' located right near where they filmed mt Doom from LOrd of the Rings.Next morning we woke up early at around 6:30 to catch a 7am shuttle bus to the start of a 17k trek acroos the terrain, what an awsome walk, starting off with a rocky incline up to the base of Mt Doom, which we then done a side trip to get to the top but due to harsh weather conditions we had to back down, at this point we met up with a cool swiss chick called Olivia who walked with us the rest of the way. We went through a long barron plain and then up some more fairly steep ridges to gain the highest point of the walk (1900m above sea level) then sweeping down to some sulphur lakes, onto another long plain these areas looked like the sets of Mordor. Up another ridge then onto the hot springs, with a sweet aromatic smell of sulphur (nice), and to finish off we went through a seemingly endless jungley bit with a sweeping river running beside it, finally reaching the end. Jesus did we hurt after that but it was worth every second of it.

Today we drove away from that camp and are now at Lake Taupo. Will update soonish now off for a weeks climbing nearby, take care all seeya!!!!