This is a little story about the other half of Saturday. The part that Chase and I skipped. Ryan, Mary, Kayla, Erin, and Kristin made a 7 hour trek through the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I can't speak first hand about the following pictures because I got them from Mary but I'll do my best to explain them. First, we'll start with dinner Friday night.
Ryan also got the cheeseburger with kiwi on top. And it was good.
Mary got grilled cheese. It was on ciabatta bread and it was honestly the best grilled cheese I've ever tasted. And because it was on the kids menu, she got it for $3.
This is the view they had to begin Saturday morning. The rest of the area wasn't too cloudy but clouds seem to hang around this mountain all the time. No wonder they call it Mount Doom.
Ryan was smiling and ready to go. Only 7 more hours, hang in there fella.
Mary found a water fall. Pretty
Mary taking a picture of herself in her hat.
Moving closer to the top
And a little closer still
Ryan and Mary showing off their best pose. Something about this doesn't look safe but they assure me it was
Mary climbing a mountain and loving it
They weren't the only ones doing the hike.
Apparently 3 year olds can hike for 7 hours straight now. All it takes is a little Mountain Dew.
This was a cool rock formation closer to the top with some steam coming out. Did I mention that this is an active volcano?
Erin in front of some cool looking lakes on the top
The lakes without Erin
Another bigger, less blue lake up on the mountain.
This is a view of the same lake that Chase and I saw from the side of the road. Look at the clouds coming down
Cindy and Mary blocking a good view of the lake. They had to bundle up a little more up here
Me and Chase saw this from the road and thought there was a forest fire on the mountain. Nope, apparently active volcanoes spew a little steam.
Here's some more steaming up close.
Towards the end of the walk they had to get through the jungle. It's amazing how many different kinds of terrain they found in 7 hours.
The girls next to a stream that has so many minerals in it that animals can't live in it.
And here is the view Sunday morning after the clouds burned off. That's Mount Doom to the right (I think)
This is what a bunch of white people do after eating lunch at Lake Taupo. You have to wear sunscreen everywhere here or else you will BURN!
Mary posing with flowers in front of the lake.
After lunch, we found a place where you try to hit golfballs onto a platform in the lake. If you get a hole in 1 you win $10,000. We didn't win. If you look up near the cloud you might see my ball going way to the right
Mary getting ready for her shot.
The swing looked better than the result
Ryan giving it a shot
Chase actually hit the green, but not the hole
Kristin whiffed a couple of times but eventually got it into the lake
Erin looked similar to Kristin
Then Chase and Ryan braved the chilly water.
There weren't many motor boats but there were some sail boats. Wish I could sail these.
Hanging out by the lake. I found the best way to avoid a bad sunburn is to keep your shirt on. Genius
And Mary's last picture is of the sunset. It puts mine and Chase's efforts to shame. But to our defense, her camera can't make phone calls, download videos and music, play games, or be generally as awesome as the phone/camera that Chase and I have. Right Mary?
So that's another view of our weekend. Tomorrow I'll upload some pictures Kayla took on her weekend outing with her parents.
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