down the river, up the mountain

jogging at midnight and then dancing myself away at a local pub to some groovy 70's hits - that's how i greeted new year, hoping that it will bring constant movement as i explore the downunder. changing plans every few hours due to capricious weather finally resulted in getting to whanganui river for four days of paddling and scratching as we'd been slowly but surely eaten up by mosquitos. my longing for the mountains was soon to be blurred as we were put in a canoe on swollen river waters, eyeing our first rapid to come just a few strokes ahead. the first day turned out to finish with a giant struggle against the current of a raging stream which we had to go up to get to the hut. after being washed down three times, screaming and cursing, paddling like a machine gun, we finally got somewhere 'close' to the landing...but on the other side :-) which meant dragging all the barrels up through the bush...barefoot! well, at least i got to feel what it was like for the first explorers who came to settle here...
the second day was a whirlpool surprise, when we got spinned twice almost tipping over but miracously managed to paddle out, spending the rest of the day admiring the steep mossy walls of the gorge and passing a few dead animals floating down the river. brrr. we met a bunch of cool people, mostly middle aged outdoor devotees and even an aussie couple five months pregnant, with whom we chatted evening hours, travelling with our minds all over the world.
i must say that i gladly left the canoe when we finally got to pipiriki, our pick up point. four days on a boat made me even more desperate to get into the mountains...
we went back to ohakune, muddy and stinky but smiling as the snow capped mount ruapehu loomed in the distance. next morning i set off for tongariro circuit, nina joined me as she gave up on the idea to go west for her last few days in new zealand. we hitch-hiked all the way to the tongariro circuit track, the weather getting worse every step we took towards the mountains. our three day trek was cut short by nature's rage. just before we got to the first crater we met people walking down to call rescue service as there were hikers stuck up on the ridge, unable to walk down. an english guy and i decided to go and help them since we had the gear and we knew the people there were freezing. however, when we started climbing up the ridge, i got swept off my feet twice (later on i discovered that my bottom was covered with bruises!), the wind getting stronger every minute so that we ended up crawling, not even being able to look up as our faces got hit with an extraordinary force by rain. we finally had to turn back, hoping that the rescue guiys will get there soon. as we later found out, it took them almost three hours to crawl up the ridge and get the people out. as we were getting warm flocking around the heater in a hut, i realised how small and petty little things we human beings are, trying to go against the elements. the nature always gets it even though...
anyway, i'm down in taupo, safe and still craving for mountains. i'm heading south to wellington, where i'll probably take a deep breath and then get down to trekking all the way down the south island.