It's been a quiet month here in Wellington, mostly spent working hard and trying to save up some cash. Still, we did manage to get away for one weekend, and we have a few photos to share with you. Oddly none of them involving tigers...
Here's the view from our tiny flat, of a moonrise over Mount Victoria.
And this seabird was spotted posing on a sculpture by the city waterfront...
We spent a weekend in the Tongariro National Park in the middle of the North Island, near to the spectacular Mount Ruapehu (good for skiing apparently).
And on the Saturday we took a 17 km hike over the top of the active volcano Tongairiro. Climbing to nearly 2000 metres we had great views of nearby Ngauruhoe, which starred as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies...
The Tongariro walk is recognised as the best one-day walk in New Zealand, and is sprinkled liberally with reminders of its volcanic nature such as these red cliffs...
...and emerald pools with nearby steaming vents.
However, there were some peaceful and non-scary parts of the walk...
...with the descent gifting us views which stretched for miles and miles...
...and taking us past a very picturesque waterfall in dense bush.
Back in Wellington, Griff has been volunteering her time at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. Her duties include monitoring the feeding stations for endangered birds such as this Kaka:
Although thankfully she doesn't have to get too close to these huge Cave Weta, which properly freaked out Rich in an abandoned gold mine at the sanctuary.
And, job done and bucket in hand, she starts the long walk back to the bus stop.
Also, here's a really big carrot.
That's all for now, but we'll post more in the coming weeks!Love
Rich, Neen, Tigs, M. Lapin & Justin
xx
