Our Angel Carlene

Forget the vibrant green hills that sandwich towering mountains (including Mt. Doom) and meet water and beautiful beaches on either side. Forget sailing with dolphins jumping out of the water to say hello and play a game of splash. Forget Hobbiton, Glow Worm Caves (larva of mouthless flies that have 30 or so strings hanging from their mouths to catch food and through bioluminescence glow), limestone caves, good beer in Urenui. Forget Lake Taupo, reminiscent of Lake Titicaca and the sunset, Rotorua with the small town vibe. Forget miles long beaches in the Bay of Plenty and the quaintness of Tairua on the water, Hotwater Beach where you can dig holes in the sand and sit in hot tub temperature water with cool waves crashing against you (make sure you go at low tide and not high tide, like we did). Forget Cathedral Cove with a limestone arch and the rollercoaster of a trail to get there, twisting up and down for a kilometer. Forget picking parks or residential streets to sleep in the car while stealing toilet paper and paper towels from information centers and public toilets. Remember Tongariro Crossing...and Our Angel Carlene.

Eighteen kilometers up and down, across five very distinct lands, it is easy to understand what Frodo and Sam went through. We started from Managatepopo and headed toward Ketetahi (the easier way we think) beginning in the arid, deserted Volcanicland (I'm giving these areas my own names) with chunks of volcanic rock sprayed around as we walked through the hot, flat abyss. Crawling over rocks, we climbed to the turn off for Mt. Doom (Mt. Nguaruhoe) and continued our crawl/climb to Red Crater, the highest point of our chosen hike. Unstable ground made our footing very strategic. Red Crater was the point where one world meets another. Volcanic Mt. Doom looming in one direction and the valley with lakes and farms in the other. From the craters, we entered Sulphur City where thermal lakes shone bright blue and green emitting hot, vaporous breezes. Clumps of snow looked over the lakes leading the way to Blue Water Lake (this one I didn't make up)with a decreased temperature enough to cause shock if a person went from one to another.

Shortly thereafter, another incline bears the view of Lake Taupo in the valley and so we entered Grasslands (I'm so creative!) where we were surrounded by yellow grasses and bushes- some just a few inches and others a few feet high. Grassland is quite large with a low grade decline leading to Ketetahi Hut (the last or first hut in which to slumber, depending on which way you climb). Below Grassland is the Riverview Forest (another one of my genius names) shaded by pine trees and the like with streams and a river flowing through it. A patted dirt walkway is refreshing to the limbs after having to make our own trail at the beginning of the hike.

Alas, I have digressed. Our Angel Carlene comes into play at the completion of the 18kilometers, of which we hiked in under 5 hours. Unbeknownst to us, no shuttles run from one car park to the other, only from neighboring towns to the different car parks. Our choices were to go back across the varied lands to our car making our day 36 kilometers long instead of 18 or to walk to the road and see if we could find a ride. The Ketetahi car park was vacant of people to ask for rides so we ventured to the main road to hitchhike.

One car went by, no luck. Another went by, still no luck. Third, fourth, fifth. Even us trying out the Can-Can only solicited honks and waves but no rides. We walked 6 kilometers before finding a small trailer with clothes on the line and an open front door. We ventured to ask if the inhabitants knew of anyone going to town, saving us what we thought was an additional 25 km walk(on flat ground) to our 18. No, they didn't, but they told us the main highway was only 2 kilometers away.

We ran with our little backpacks to try and gain some ground as we could see ( no it was not a mirage from dehydration-- we still had plenty of food and water at that point)the highway ahead. We heard another car approaching and turned around only to lose a little hope for the car appeared to be turning down another road. Alas, the car did not turn, but pulled over for us and bore Our Angel Carlene, the woman with whom I spoke, at her house not five minutes earlier. As she drove up she said, "Everybody needs a blessing, you know...and it's Sunday." Not only did she drive us back to the turn off to the car park where our rental stood, but she drove us all the way...all the extra 34 kilometers to our car. We would have had to walk an additional 40 kilometers to our car had Our Angel Carlene not picked us up. We are forever grateful and indebted to Our Angel Carlene for providing us with a blessing and taking us that extra distance.