Tongoriro Crossing and the Week Long Birthday

Alright. So once again, I'm sure you find yourself a week older, and begging for some Wes info. To be honest there is a fair amount to catch up on I suppose. So bare with me. Three major events I suppose.

First of course we have last week, when I did the Tongoriro Crossing (aka I hiked Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings).On Friday afternoon I was picked up around 6 and 3 of us made our way down to the Turangi. Now you may wonder how could it have been a crazy, fun, sweet as weekend with only 3 people there. I'LL TELL YOU!! Because when we arrived at Turangi later that night (about 11) we joined up with about 70 other Couchsurfers. All awaiting our arrival.

So to paint the general picture, last week 70 or so Couchsurfers made our way to Turangi. Where we stayed at one house own there. The goal of our trip was to hike the Tongoriro Crossing, a 19k (roughly 12 mile) hike that takes you by the base of Mt. Doom and winds its way across all of Tongoriro National Park (a world heritage site). It was a long weekend and so we planned to stay there till monday when we would return.

So now that you have the bigger picture let me proceed. All 70 of us couchsurfers as I was saying was staying at one single poor woman's house. She was in her late/early 50/60's and did not eat meat nor drink. But she was good enough to host 70 random people at here place. So we randomly strew ourselves around the property. Her backyard looked very similar to Hoboville. It was covered in tents in no particular order. Anyways that night was rather uneventful though a good time. Oh ya. Except for when I went to bed. I was told to just crash where I found a spot. So I started to look in tents that night, and finally found one that was empty. "Sweet" I thought as I crawled into it and threw my stuff down. However as I was rolling out my sleeping bag and crawling in I was surprised to see my backpack suddenly roll over. I quickly realized that I was not, as I first thought, alone in this tent. There was a person in a sleeping bag in the corner I had completely missed. So I apologized and went to bed. (as it was to dark that night and then the next morning she was gone when I awoke, I was cursed the rest of the trip asking random women if it was them I had rudely woken in the middle of the night by throwing my baggage upon their back (A rather awkward conversation then usually followed). (I didn't find here till Monday.)

At any rate, the next morning I was awoken by the sound of a bomb siren going off at 5 in the morning. At first I thought it was an awful way to wake all the couchsurfers since it would wake the entire town as well. I quickly realized that no one there would be stupid enough to do that and thus we must actually be being bombed and I had somehow been transported to London in the middle of WWII (give me a break, it was early and I was woken up at 5 by a bomb siren. What would you think?) Anyways once I realized that I wasn't thinking in a British accent I realized I couldn't be in London and so I then I thought "Man the volcano must have exploded!" You must understand. This was not just some noise I heard. We are talking a full fledged screaching, louder-than-police-sirens sirens. I had no clue what they were. After about a minute and a half though they went off. So without explanation I went back to sleep. Later I found out, that it was a siren rigged into the emergency system. So anytime the fire brigade or the police are called, that siren goes off. It must really suck to live there! Fortunately since its a town of about 750, I doubt that it goes off that often.

Anyways, I digress again. Forgive me. So I woke up at about 5:30, and by 6:00 we all met and had breakfast. Then we traveled to the mountain and arrived at the base at 8:00. There someone asked if I was doing the optional side hike. "Pshhh! Is the Pope Catholic!?!" was my answer. The side hike was the climb to the actual summit of Mt. Ngauruhoe (or more commonly referred to as "Mt. Doom") We started this hike by somewhat splitting into groups according somewhat to the speed we wanted to take the hike. I ended going with the first group that was also doing the side hike (the "fast group". Ironically we ended up finishing the hike after everyone else.) We all started the hike with the speed of ignorance accompanying us. Ignorant of just how far 19k up the face sevaral volcanoes really is. We somehow started discussing how if you put the term viper next to anything it suddenly became awesome and dangerous. So we called ourselves the Viper team and all took viper animals. Myself being Viper Mule. How I was deemed the mule I seem to not recall. There was also Viper Drop Bear, Viper Falcon, Viper Artic Fox, and Viper Goose. We made it to the top of the Devil's Staircase in an hour and a half. Then we took a breather and then started on the side trail straight up Mt. Doom. Mt. Ngauruhoe is pretty steep without any real rocks to help you. It is made out of scoria completely really so every step up you slide a half step down. There is one narrow trail up that zig-zags between a couple of rocks that stick out of it on one side. So what you find is that you hike for an hour and a half up, BUT... the way down is only about 15 minutes. ITS SWEEEEEEETTTTT! The way down you kind of run and jump and then boot ski down for about 10 feet and then repeat. It is so much fun and such a thrill (beacuse if you fall, you get torn up by gravel). Probably the most fun I've had in 10 years. It was awesome. Anyways, we got to the top where there was an incredible view, not to mention SNOW! I was able to find a piece of scoria that had a hole in it so it was somewhat like a ring. I gave it a toss into the Volcano so I could say I had done my part to through a ring into Mt. Doom. If you want a picture of Mt. Doom then here it is in real life:

(Its the one in the back. This is a shot from our hike though)

So we went up, we pushed a boulder down into the liquid hot Magma, and we screamed our way down (or atleast I did). We continued on our hike not knowing where the other 60 of us were. We passed by the Emerald Lakes where we ate lunch. They are lakes at the top surrounded by geysers, and so green in color (hence their names) (not to mention they are full of acid). Also the Red Crater, which was pretty breathtaking. It is a massive crater full of steam rising and all blood red or the darkest black. Its quite a contrast actually to be honest. Its no surprise they filled Mordor here. Its the perfect location. The hiked continued downhill finally after the Emerald Lakes, and to be honest that was worse. My boots were a little large, and my feet started to rub real bad. The end of the hike is all rainforest and pretty sweet as. I was a little to tired/in pain to appreciate it though. After finish the hike though we had the brilliant idea to go to the natural hot springs and soak. That was a wonderful feeling. That night we had a big party in the yard, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Team Viper represented, and ended the night practice my German with two german ladies. That night my mystery tentmate was back, but I still couldn't tell who she was she was so raveled up.

The next day the plan was to go ski diving. There was a Canadian dude, a French woman, and myself all interested in doing it. However we unfortunately woke to rain which didn't seem like it would let up. So new plans had to be made. A large group (about 50) went into Taupo to soak in the (far cooler in my opinion) hot springs. I however was not part of it. I hung around and cleaned and chatted with some friends. Later 3 of us drove to Taupo and went indoor rock climbing. We had a blast there and tore up the 20 meter wall. That night there was a big BBQ. We all returned and had a grand old time. I managed to pull Kirin aside (the man who organized all 70 of us, and who is awesome for it) and we had a couple of cheers. (he is about 45, but he kept up with me pretty well) And then word was spread that next Friday was my birthday so we figured why not celebrate it then as well. So we thoroughly did that, and enjoyed ourselves all night long. The next morning we woke, and packed up the destruction we had caused, and rolled out. We stopped by Hauna falls on the way (where I went jet boating 9 years earlier).

So that was that trip. It was a absolute and complete blast. And we recruited some people for birthday celebrations which were the coming week.

So lets see. The next week proceeded normally I suppose. Oh ya. School was supposed to start on Tuesday we thought. When I returned on Monday night though I was told that Yannik had blood poisoning and couldn't go to school the next day. (To give you guys some insight into why this job is hard to explain I will give you an example. Its hard to describe what it is like to live with a severely autistic kid, because everything has to be viewed in a completely different light. So when we went to the beach for Christmas, naturally all of us got bitten by bugs. NZ is famous for its nasty Sand Flies. Well that all well and good. Who doesn't get stung by mosquito now and then. Only when Yannik gets bitten he scratches. And then he scratches more. And then he starts to bleed. And then he picks the scab. And then the scab regrows and he picks that. Till each and every mosquito and Sand Fly bite becomes a nickel sized scab on his arm, chest and leg. And then the get horribly infected because he doesn't stop. Thus the bug bites he got at Christmas are now a month later giving him blood poisoning. You start to see my point. Who would think of it, its just a bug bite. ... atleast thats what I used to think. Haha) Well enough of that. So Leigh graciously decided to stay home with me since after all summer break she didn't think it was fair that I have to watch him the first day of school. Only then we realized, no one really knew when school started. We had all just assumed it was Tuesday. Well then we tried everything to find out when it started, but we couldn't for the life of us find out. No one was at the school because they were off, the Ministry of Education didn't know because every school started in the next 3 days but it differed depending on the school, and the website gave last years dates. If I was a Kiwi I would allow myself for say "Ahhh, Typical New Zealand". Haha.

Well, he did end up going to school on Wed. and that night I ended up going to my weekly drinks at couchsurfing. It was my birthday drinks and had been built up a lot. Lets just say it did not disappoint. We had about 100 people show up from all around the world. I had a wonderful evening and was even somehow talked into jumping in the harbor. Which I did, and then quickly removed myself, and then found myself with a wet pocket full of wet boxers the rest of the night. Leigh and Christoph were kind enough to give me Thursday morning off, so I relaxed and was able to stay after my bus left. It was a wonderful evening and some of us made plans for what to do on Friday (my actual birthday). I talked to the bar owner and he agreed to do drink specials at the bar on Friday for us so it was announced for everyone to come back on Friday night.

On Friday, I worked for an hour or so in the morning and had the rest of the day off. So I called a friend and we decided to go to the Casino for the afternoon since I had never been to one. Well we walked in and I had two simple desires. I wanted to pull a thing on a slot machine and have coins pour out, and I wanted to play a game of Blackjack. Well we changed 30 dollars between us and hit the 2c slot machines. On around $2.60 my first goal was accomplished. While playing upon the Gambling Giesha Power Play slot machine I somehow did something, and then something else happened (to be honest, it was all rather confusing. Modern slot machines have far to many buttons and options. I was completely lost.) However I fully understood when coins started to pour out. I had won myself 30 dollars somehow. So we each wasted another 2 dollars and then said "We're OUT!" we went grabbed some chips and put $5 (the minimum bet) on black in roulette and lost, and then I put $10 (minimum bet) on a game of blackjack with a rather stubborn and unhappy dealer. To my delight I won, and thought I was 25 bucks on top... "We're OUT!" So with that we left and bought some Korean bbq. It was so good.

Then, ironically, I dropped my friend off and went to another BBQ. This one for a girl who's birthday it had been the day before. I hung out for a bit and then caught a bus down to the bar downtown. I arrived somewhat late, and about 7 people were already waiting there for me. One of which was an German nanny that I thought had left the country months ago! It was a great suprise and turned out she had been traveling with her folks. I was unsure if anyone was going to show that night, but quickly put my concerns away as more people kept pouring in. Soon we had a group of about 40 people all there with no one else in the bar. Not to mention both bartenders were friends of mine, so we continued to relax as they closed the bar, and then for a bit they joined us outside. Eventually though around 12:45 we decided we should roll out and let them close for good. At that point we felt it necessary to go dancing. However, Auckland downtown for some reason has a really stupid dress code. I was in Jandals (thats NZ for sandals) so no one was going to let me in. So then we thought "THE MEXICAN CAFE! they let anyone in." So we made our way across town to the Mexican Cafe, only to be turned down at the door. Thats when I saw it though. The tiny hole in the wall Irish pub I had been in before. I walked straight in and no one said a word about my foot wear. Inside it was still as Irish as ever. It was a rather quite bar when I entered. However everyone followed me in and then Guiness flowed, and dancing ensued, and I guarantee you that that bar could be called a lot of things after I left it, but quiet was not one of them.

That night someone gave me a lift back to the truck but I was way to intoxicated drive so I slept in the bed of it that night. Which was actually quite amusing. The next day was Christoph's birthday, and so Leigh took him and I out to their favorite Thai restaurant that night. It was really nice. Yannik was at respite care so we could relax and just do as we like that night. We also swung by a little place called the wine cellar, and I found the only Viogner I have seen in NZ. (quite tasty)

On Sunday, I went into town and spent the day at the Domain (a beautiful park in downtown Auckland. The Central Park of Auckland). A fantastic place to spend the day, and absolutely spectacular. They have a duck pond, and hiking trails, and place called the Wintergardens which is like palace of flowers. It is really cool. Its has a winter room, a fernery, a spring room, a summer room, and a fall room, and flowers to go with each. And in the center between the 4 season rooms is a large kind of pond (like the reflecting pool in DC) only it has lily pads and fish in it. But at each corner of the pond is a statue depicting a figure of either Winter, Spring, etc. Its a really neat place. However the center piece of the Domain is the Auckland War Musuem. And it was there that I spent my day. Every day they do a Maori presentation (Maori being the natives of NZ). The presentation is done by Maori and is kind of a showcase of song and dance along with an explanation of each. It is really cool. Maori culture is fascinating, and NZ is doing an incredible job of keeping it vibrant and flourishing. (Unlike ourselves and our own natives) For example, the Maori language is on the rise rather then decreasing in use. There is a Maori tv channel, and some schools are taught in only Maori. Anyways that is what I did on Sunday.

Then there was the thing that has come up since then. For those of you who are interested to know more about my actual job and work, here is for you. Though I warn you it isn't pretty. Every once in a while something comes up and all of a sudden I am shocked into realizing just the seriousness of my work. On Sunday night I went an picked Yannik up from respite care. When I arrived he was the only one left, and so there were about 9 adults there and Yannik. I picked him up and chatted for a moment and then brought him home.
The next day I returned home to find Christoph on the phone. He told me a sad story then. Apparently over the weekend while at respite care, the door had been left open for a moment. During which time one of the children got out. He was gone before they realized it, and when they found him his was face down in a swamp, dead. Thats why there were so many adults when I had picked Yannik up. I never would have realized that a child had been found dead that day. And Yannik was there the whole time. The boys name was Julian. I was able to picture him only from brief run ins to him at respite care. He was really autistic, and wore overalls on backwards so he couldn't take them off and smear feces on himself.

You know, its such a simple thing. To forget to fully close the door. But here, suddenly, something like that can mean the death of a kid. Its like the time I accidentally left my razor in the shower, and we found Yannik later chewing on the razor blade. Its such a small thing, but, boy; it makes all the difference in the world. Again I say this job and my work is so hard to explain, to put in words. This is why. Its not easy to get a picture of a life where you leave a door open for a minute and a 12 year old boy drowns, or you go to the bathroom and suddenly a 15 year old boy is 1k down the road on his bike, oblivious to the world and dangers around him. For everyone else there are "the small things", but here, those "small things" become huge ordeals. Going to the bathroom, showering, taking a pill, shaving, garbage disposals, they are suddenly completely different for you than they are for everyone else. For some of those things its natural parenting to not let your children around, like garbage disposals. But if your child is suddenly 40, and he still can't go to the bathroom, shower, shave, take a pill, or get near to garbage disposals. Then, then you are living a completely different life. As I said, I've learned a huge amount about life and such while I've been here, an its been great. In many ways, I do have a very easy job. It just takes a little patience, and a positive attitude. But, man, occasionally you realize just how easy it is for something horrible to happen in a house like this. Just one moment of inattention and a whole world could come crashing down. I can't imagine what the workers at respite care feel right now. It must be awful.

Well, I babble on and on don't I. My apologies. I ask that you keep Julian and his family, along with those respite workers in your prayers.

I miss you all, and are as jealous of your 3 feet of snow as you probably are of my 87 degree heat.

Have a fantastic day guys. Sorry this was so long, but since I think only about 5 people read this (4 of which are my family members) I don't feel quite so guilty. Stay warm.

Love
Wes