I woke to my iPhone alarm proudly declaring "Wake Up! You Have To Take The Ring To Mordor!" It was the day we had been preparing for, we were doing the Tongariro Crossing. The night before we scrambled around the mountain town of Okahune getting food, warm clothes, and other neccessities for what we were warned was a long cold trip. Danielle and I had both laughed everyone off saying "We're Canadian! -2 and 50km winds are nothing!" but the truth was we were a little nervous. With our daypacks full of food and extra layers, our tummys full of a good breakfast we waited for the shuttle bus at 7am outside our hostel. I was already cold in my sweater, leggings, wool socks, and boots but I slept on the bus and next thing I knew it was 8:30 and we were ready to start the 19.4km trek!
Tongariro is the oldest national park in New Zealand and a world heritage site. It's made up of the volcanic peaks of Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and Ruapehu and is internationally ranked as one of the best day treks in the world. The most recent eruption was in 2012 and those volcanic warning signs were not to be taken lightly! They filmed quite a bit of Lord of the Rings there as well. The 'baren wasteland' was the backdrop of Mordor and is home to Mount Doom! (without the CGI). With this in mind I had never felt more like a hobbit! The worst parts of the trek for me were 'the Devil's staircase' and the steepest climb known as 'red crater' that quickly took you up to 1900m. They were steep, long climbs, that I knew I would have to do! There was no turning back. It took me longer than I would have thought and I never want ascend anything again, but I made it! During the whole trek I had puns to keep me going, and a lot of water. The following is a list of puns that ran through my head as I climbed, and climbed, and climbed some more.
#TweetsFromMordor:
Now I get why Frodo wore the ring around his neck! This altitude is making my fingers swell, and I wouldn't want the One Ring stuck on my finger!
Up, Up, Up the Stairs Hobbits! (when I saw the Devil's Staircase)
If I think this is hard, Frodo and Sam did this barefoot!
What to Frodo and I have in common? We volunteered to go to Mordor. What do Frodo and I not have in common? When he got to the top the Eagles flew him home.
Lembas bread? No thank you, I have Tim Tams and trail mix!
And so these little jokes to myself went on, and on, and on some more. I really should have written them all down. When I finally got to the top it was definitely worth it! It was a sight to behold! We ate lunch beside the beautiful blue crater lakes, and had the most amazining view of mountains and volcanoes! The best part was that it was SO HOT! We were just about melting! It was a sunny day of 20 degrees with a wind of about 35km. Some people were wearing parkas, touques, and mittens but not us Canadian girls. We were in leggings and tank tops enjoying the hot sun and cool breeze from 2000m up! Actually no, the best part was that we finished the trek in 7 hours exactly! We finished just above the average. About 20 minutes behind us was a huge wave of people and we all congratulated each other! Mordor was absolutely beautiful....but I don't know if I'll be visiting again any time soon!
