Losing my maturity
As Monday brought the year of the dragon into effect I braced myself against the wind and the wilds of New Zealand's North Island to reach the rim of the Red Crater in the Tongariro National Park. At 1900m, I peered into the depths of the Earth, then despite the lashing of dark pumice-like gravel against bare cheeks, I skirted the rim where on the other side I was startled by the serenity of the Blue and Emerald Lakes that lay below. H and I signed to one another – something about crazy, what about this wind, amazing, freezing, let's get out of here – and silently, taking extra care with foot placement started the descent in the hope we'd find shelter from the elements. Two days earlier I'd been lolling around the beaches of the Coromandel region, basking in unexpectedly warm weather, swimming in azure blue water and thinking this trip represented something of a travel 'coming-of-age'. Having previously denounced New Zealand as a retirement project I found myself expressing delight at things like the good roads, clean toilets and wholesome vegetarian fare. I was in awe of my wheelie bag which made life seem so easy, not to mention all those delightfully helpful people who spoke English and stood in queues. You may think this mature turn in events might mean we didn't find place names like Urititi and Waipu hilarious. But you'd be wrong. Similarly, H and I spent hours mimicking the Kiwi accent of radio announcers and making fun of Ruru - the wise owl of road safety. The trip was pretty much perfect. By the time we were taking Boof, the Dutch mongrel, on a walk around Turangi 'Trout Fishing Capital of New Zealand' I'd forgotten all about the humping I received on arrival from a beagle overly excited by a couple of raisins scrunched up in a ball of cling-wrap – remnants of a slice of Christmas pudding I'd taken on the flight. The Kim Dotcom story broke while we there with considerable fanfare. I can't wait to see what the black t-shirts of the world will do. Cripple the internet? Come out from behind their screens and into the streets in mass protest? Or, ignoring the 'cyber crime' aspect, deem he deserves what he gets just for being an a-grade douche.
Everything in New Zealand was pretty ridiculously beautiful, from 'The Mount' (232m) to Tongariro (1978m).