Before I went there however I visited camp friend Brad Eyre in New Plymouth and hiked the three-day Pouakai Circuit. New Zealand's two main islands are formed by two completely different geographic forces. The South Island by plate tectonics, the collision of the Pacific and Australian plates, the North Island by Volcanism. The wide east-west part of North Island is a series of volcanoes, the older extinct ones to the west, the newer, higher and more active ones to the east. Pouakai is one of the older volcanoes with less altitude and more vegetation. Lush tropical vegetation is actually kind of fun in the rain as long as you don't get too cold and wet.
When I got to Tongariro it was bright and sunny. All the better to appreciate the hot dry moonlike landscape of New Zealand's most famous volcano, the setting for Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings and where I did my final three day loop just to get the most out of it. Actually there are three mountains clustered together, Tongariro, Ngurahoe and Ruapehu (Mt Ru, Mt Gu and Tongariro). If you feel so inclined you can make side trips up to the summits. The one interesting prohibition is some of the vents. Maori look at the natural forces of creation as sacred and have persuaded the government over time to respect their ideas and their sacred places.The last stop was Auckland. After the ferry ride into Wellington I decided to take a rather circuitous
route just so I could enter the city from the water. The route was a bit of a nuisance (sleeping in a bunk room directly above the hottest DJ in the country spinning until 3:00 am) but the ferry trip was even better than I could have hoped for. Calm trip, great scenery, sunset, moonrise and a great look at one of the world's great cities all lit up at night. It was a real treat and a wonderful way to end the trip.