R is for Red Crater: high point of the Crossing, 1886m

Gaping Red Crater, Mt Tongariro

Remarkable colours of Red Crater

Having slogged up the steep, rocky ridge we were in awe of what came next, we were right on the edge of the gaping Red Crater, looking into the surreal colours and shapes.

It felt raw and ripped and at the same time velvety.

The weather was much cooler, the wind came up, we added a layer and took in this weird, stupendous place.

T is for Tongariro Alpine Crossing: 3500 souls on the path on Devil's Staircase

The track up the valley to the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, over lava rocks, is aptly called the Devil's Staircase, it is very steep, stacks of wooden steps twist and turn from 1400 to 1600 meters above sea level.

I battled the whole way, one step at a time, questioning my fitness for this arduous piece of the tramp, the height gain affected me too, made me nauseous and my heart was pounding with each pace. I was testing Fred's patience as he shepherded me up.

It was a long weekend here in New Zealand, Waitangi Day. On a good summers day there can be 1000 people on the Crossing. The estimate for our day on the path was 3500!

That added another level of pressure on the ascent - young, 20 somethings pushing past on the narrow stairs. I just doggedly put one foot in front of the other and crept up and up and up, too exhausted to even weep when I got to the saddle and then needed to tackle the rocky, uneven ascent to Red Crater after the South Crater stretch of flat walking.

Reaching the saddle and the huge, walled amphitheatre

Up in the alpine zone, bleak, eerie and beautiful

N is for Ngauruhoe: Mount Doom from Mordor

Mt Ngauruhoe from the Saddle

Alpine summer flowers.

Mount Doom, Mordor, can see what the appeal was!

From Tongarirocrossing.org.nz:

The Lord of the Rings

In autumn 2000, Tongariro National Park was home to the most sinister of the Lord of the Rings locations, Mordor, which is

the strong hold of the dark Lord Sauron.  Mordor, is the great volcanic plateau filled with geological  wonders known as Gorgoroth.  Much of Frodo and Sam's journey into the land of Sauron was filmed on and around the Tongariro National Park. 

The area has jagged volcanic rock formations and eerie barren landscapes, ideally suited to Mordor's hissing wasteland.

To really immerse yourself in Mordor and feel the eerie barren landscape, trek the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.  The following are features of Tongariro National Park that were captured in the filming of scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Mt Ngauruhoe
Mt Ngauruhoe was digitally altered to appear as Mt Doom.  Mt Ngauruhoe is a featur of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. 

T is for Tongariro Alpine Crossing: the legendary one day hike on the North Island

Mt Raupehu, the ski mountain of the Tongariro National Park.

Boardwalk over the volcanic lava flow

It starts, the legendary Tongariro Alpine Crossing, lauded as the best one day hike in New Zealand.

Shawni and Craig had organised the transfer to the start point and we were off at 8.30am from National Park to the car park at Mangatepopo.

The weather was perfect!

The day before had been overcast with rain but we had blue skies, the visibility was so good that Mt. Taranaki was floating on the horizon 100km to  the west. I was so relieved as it is a fair weather tramp and all about the scenery and grand vistas.

Mt Taranki on the horizon, Shawni and Craig on the path.

The day started with an easy tramp up the Mangatepopo Valley to Soda Springs, walking over the old lava flows with great views of Mt Raupehu and Mt Ngauruhoe looming large. My nerves had settled a little as we walked across the boardwalks but then as we got to Soda Springs, the Devil's Stairway came into view - oh my.

It starts, the arduous Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Summer grasses with golden heads.

S is for statue: Katherine Mansfield in Midland Park, Wellington

Katherine Mansfield sculpture in Midland Park, Wellington

I went looking for this statue this morning while we were pottering around Wellington doing some admin and shopping.

From Stuff.co.nz, 2013:

"The words of Katherine Mansfield will illuminate a little corner of Lambton Quay after a three-metre- high statue of the renowned New Zealand writer was unveiled yesterday.

The statue, by sculptor Virginia King, is the fruit of three years work between the Wellington Sculpture Trust, the Katherine Mansfield Society and the Wellington City Council. It will stand at the corner of Midland Park.

Lit up from inside, the steel figure of Wellington-born Mansfield is covered in passages of her writing. Even her hair is made up of shopping lists found in her journals.

Guests at the unveiling included Ben Galloway, from Auckland, who spent many hours welding the figure together, meeting the sculptor's exacting standards. "I've spilt my fair share of blood, sweat and tears on it, especially the inside . . . It will last for years," he said.

Before the unveiling by mayor Celia Wade-Brown, Mansfield interpreter Cathy Downes performed The Doll's House, one of the author's most famous short stories.

Sculpture Trust project manager Jon Craig said Mansfield was synonymous with New Zealand.

"While in Siberia, at the English-speaking school in Novosibirsk, I was asked where I came from. New Zealand, I said . . . in an instant the reply came back, 'Katherine Mansfield'.""

R is for Rimu: an 800 year old New Zealand tree

The giant 800 year old Rimu on our walk today.

I felt like been back on a trail today after a few intense days of visiting exhibitions.
The Otari-Wilton Botanical Gardens is a few suburbs away from Craig and Shawni and are unique as they showcase New Zealand native plants, shrubs and trees. Beyond the gardens is a vast extent of native broadleaf conifer forest with a nice selection of well formed paths to walk.
The highlight was the old Rimu tree standing with such dignity and presence in the forest.

Otari-Wilton Nature Trails, wonderful morning walk.

A gardener shared some of her knowledge about the uniqueness of the shrubs and trees, particularly the Fierce Lancewood.

The tree evolved to protect itself from ground bird predation, like the now extinct moa's. Once it reaches a certain height the leaves face skyward and loose their knobbly, spiky look and soften.

Interesting.

B is for Bangers: an insight from The Great War Exhibition, Wellington

Learning something new - where the word bangers comes from!

A scene of what life was like in the trenches in France - eating their tinned sausages.

How I love it when I learn something cool, we talk of having bangers and mash and I never realised the word 'bangers' is a phrase from The Great War.

The tins of sausages shipped to the frontline had a tendency to explode unless the tin was pierced, hence bangers!

A photo I took of a colourised 1915 black and white, quite remarkable.

Once again a very professional and unique exhibition driven by Sir Peter Jackson. His grandfather served in The Great War and was at Gallipoli and this in part explains his passion for this era in New Zealand's history. He has made it real and accessible.

Another unique dimension that he has introduced in The Great War Exhibition is the colourisation of the original black and white Kodak photos taken during the war.

These 100 year old images, seen in full colour are fascinating and make the images of the war fresh and current.

The photos are large scale, backlit and heart stoppingly real, the talent of the Weta Workshop digital artists is very special.

I was particularly taken with this image of an Aussie soldier listening to a gramophone record in a bunker at Gallipoli, how many shades of brown.

He could walk into a room right now, maybe a farmer...

Another moving day  for Fred and me - The Great War Exhibition, Wellington

G is for Gallipoli: exhibition at Te Papa Museum, Wellington

Metal cutout on the Wellington Foreshore, sets the scene for our morning at Te Papa Museum

Gallipoli.

I knew nothing about Gallipoli, not even where it happened, this savage First World War campaign against the Turks in 1915 and certainly, I knew nothing about its impact on New Zealand, the scale of their losses, 93% of their soldiers died or were wounded!

After experiencing the exhibition 'Gallipoli: The Scale of Our war', at Te Papa Museum, I will never forget.

I was so moved, so frustrated by the futility of war, so overcome with horror by what these young men went through, that I have felt tearful all day.

The outstanding exhibition is a multimedia creative masterpiece and showcases the talent of New Zealand and particularly that of the Weta Workshop here in Wellington.

Actual videos, 3-D photos, black and white photos, sketches, notebooks, journals, voice overs from veterans all put together in an authentic way, with amazing attention to detail, that makes the story behind the 8 months of this campaign, from the landing at Anzac Cove, to the final retreat after the last stand at the mountain top of Chaunuk Bair, so vivid and tactile, so understandable, that I felt it at a visceral level.

The 2.5 scale models from Gallipoli, remarkable, reflecting the horror of war.

From Weta Workshop website:

Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War is an exhibition created to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the ANZAC troops' landing at Gallipoli in 1915.

Based around real stories by real people entangled in the conflict, each represented as a larger-than-life hyper-realistic sculpture, the Designers Institute has honoured the exhibition with a Gold Award for Spatial Design in its recent Best Awards.

A flat white and lunch at Ti Kouka Cafe in downtown Wellington, taking in and 'recovering' from the Gallipoli Exhibition.

E is for Eastern Walkway: following another Wellington tramping trail

View across Breaker Bay from the Eastern Walkway

A calm entrance to Wellington Bay

 Another perfect day to be out walking here in Wellington.
Shawni and Craig were off to work so we used one of their cars to head to the Eastern Walkway and to drive the coastal roads.
As we have come to experience, gradients are steep along these walkways with loads of wooden steps to navigate, even having walked the QCT recently, these couple of kilometres felt so tiring, the notion of being fit is elusive to me, I feel each steep hill!
The views were worth the effort though.

On the Eastern Walkway

R is for Rugby: watching the HSBC Rugby 7's

Atmosphere of the Seven's is quite unique, crazy costumes, much liquid sustenance and passionate support for teams.

No less so than Fred, yodelling for SA and making 'new best friends'.

Disappointment for the SA loss right at the last minute but a good weekend of sport at the Westpac Stadium here in Wellington.

Final: NZ vs SA

O is for Old St Paul's: a fine timber Gothic Revival church

My ambling around Thorndon found me spending quiet time in the fine timber church, Old St Paul's, built in 1866.

I wonder if Katherine Mansfield's family would have walked down the hill to attend services here?

The interior is warm and inviting, the woodwork simple and masterful using native timber, the stained glass windows reflecting beautifully in the late afternoon sun.

A special atmosphere.

I particularly liked the exterior wood finishes, the angles, lines and circular details were very pleasing as was the magnificent spire against the deep blue of the sky today.

It also has a wonderful Christmas Shop, I will let Shawni know so she can collect more ornaments over the years.

K is for KM: Katherine Mansfield, so famous here, the green figure on pedestrian traffic lights

Katherine Mansfield's Birthplace in Thorndon and her figure on traffic lights in Wellington.

A quiet Sunday to myself with the gang at the HSBC Rugby 7's, so I wandered around historic Thorndon starting at the house in Tinakori Road where Katherine Mansfield was born in 1888. She of the short story genre, wrote beautifully of New Zealand and Wellington later in her life when she could appreciate her home country from afar.

The house has been carefully restored and showcases life in the late 19th C here in Wellington and also presents her story which makes for interesting reading, particularly that she interacted with Virginia Woolf of Bloomsbury Group fame in London and also with D H Lawrence.

Interesting details in the home.

W is for 'wee': a big little word here in New Zealand

Inside and outside!

Craig brought to my attention that the Kiwi's use the word 'wee' a lot and ever since I have been noticing how common it really is.

• wee (adjective) 1) a short time, a little bit, as in "my chicken was a wee bit overcooked." 2) small, little, as in "he was a wee boy." 

Today, coming back on the Interislander Ferry from Picton to Wellington, there it is was again, this time in a Top 10 advert on the cup. Ah, that was Fred and I having tea with a wee scone, strawberry jam and cream.