New Zealand--4: Gisborne, Rotorua, Taupo

Caught a hitchhike from Tokomaru bay to Gisborne with an EMT and a GP, made for some good conversation. Had a chance to discuss the brain science stuff I got into at UNSW, like the mind-brain paper I wrote a few years ago (and since had published in a Harvard student brain science journal).
In Gisborne I had a place to crash through the friend of a former patient of mine. Despite the fact that he wasn't even there, he set me up with the key and let me stay in his absence. Which was nice, but I didn't find much to get up to in Gisborne so I took off to Taupo via Rotorua after a couple nights.
Spent just the day/night in Rotorua, a thermal wonderland.
Hot mud,

and hot water,

with the smell of sulfur lingering everywhere.


Then it was just a couple quick hitchikes down to Taupo, a great place for outdoor activities--my sorta thing.

My first night at the backpacker in Taupo, I overheard an Aussie family talking about doing the Tongariro Alpine crossing the next day. I spoke up and said I was keen on it too and hooked up with them for the trek; one I had been looking to do for a while.
Up at 530AM (blah!) to beat the days heat, we saw the sun rise over Mt. Ngauruhoe,

Recognize that mountain?
How about now?

No?
Try imagining a red eye one top with flames coming out of it...
It's Mt. Doom from Lord of The Rings.
Climbing it was a detour from the main trail; and a bloody steep one at that. It was made of loose sand/rock that would slide under your feet as you climb, making for a really hard slog up.

It even made me sweat :)

But boy was it worth it!! The view from the top was unreal,

To my dismay, a look inside the crater did not yield a flaming red eye nor even flowing red lava....

It took about 1.5h to ascend and about 15mins to descend--sliding down the loose gravel/rock. Which filled my shoes with sand, absolutely chalkers! As you can when I emptied them.
The rest of the hike was no less spectacular:
evidence of landslides,

white lichen like ground cover,

martian like scenery,


Colors I don't know if you can see anywhere else,



This hike was exactly the sorta thing I was hoping to do in NZ.

In Taupo, lake Taupo flows out into the Waikato river with pristine clear turquoise water characteristic of NZ. Along side it I found a few things:
A very cool rope swing. With about 250 degrees circular swing, it was one of the best I've ever seen,

A thermal spring that pours hot water into the Waikato river,


And Huka falls.