NZ - Dec. 9, 2013 - Ohakune and Whakapapa Village

Despite the weather, today started off hilariously.  We got up at 7:15am and started cooking breakfast as we observed some fellow campers in a bit of a frenzy.  It was raining on and off, and they didn't seem to know how to handle it while camping.  First they unpinned their fly and shook it off all over their tent.  At this point it wasn't raining so they took the fly and their towels to the shelter to hang them up.  They started to pack up the things inside their tent, but it started raining again so they picked up their entire tent, stuff in it and all, and walked it over to the recreation room (an actual building with a pool table and TV).  With great difficulty they squeezed it through the sliding glass doors and left in in there to dry.  Seriously, it was the funniest thing ever to watch.  Meanwhile, we ate, packed up 2 tents, and left while they were still sorting out theirs.

Today we turned a corner and started back north again, this time towards Ohakune.  The drive was beautiful with windy roads and lots of pretty hills.  Of course that meant lots of sheep and lookouts, too.  

Photo credit: Kat

Photo credit: Ryan P

One stop, the Makatote Viaduct, was especially fun and had lots of opportunities for pictures.  This one was for sure my favourite.

Photo credit: Kat

Eventually we made it to Ohakune, and as luck would have it we found a pretty sweet Marino Wool Outlet store.  The perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon (and $900 between the 4 of us...).  The lady there was very helpful, telling us the touristy things to do around town and letting us use her bathroom during our marathon shopping experience.

Also in Ohakune was the visitor centre where we had to get details for our massive hike the next day.  Because of the weather they thought we were INSANE for still wanting to do it, but Ryan R assured him that we were geologists so we'd be fine.  The clouds were ominous, and the guide said it would take us extra time the first day because we'd be trudging through mud.  Nevertheless, he sold us a map and sent us on our way.

We decided to camp at the base of the mountain so we found a site in Whakapapa Village. The campground was beautiful, but unfortunately it wasn't really designed for tents so we had to park our car pretty far away from the sites.  We did a grocery run, then completely unpacked the car to prepare for our overnight hike.  Luckily the rain held off while we did that, and while we enjoyed a delicious shrimp and chicken laksa for dinner.  Then really early to bed (8pm) to prepare for the day ahead!