Walk to the Uper Tama

Yesterday we woke up to a completely different day. Blue Sky and sunshine. Stil chilly in the morning but it is warming up fast. We made our own littlte breakfast and our sandwiches for the day and hit the road. The walk starts easy not far from the hotel with an easy track to Taranaka falls. 1 hour. We are between 2 vulvanic mountains both with snow on the top. Mount Ruapehu (2797) right at the back from the hotel and Mt Ngauruhoe(2287) in front of us. The first mountain completely clear, the other one with a mystic cloud around which is moving fast. The higher we come we notice the strong winds. After 2 1/2 hours we arrived at the Lower Tama Lake and still feeling fit we continue on a steep and stony sloop. When you think you have reached the top an other edge is waiting to concor and then finally an even more stunning view. Mt Ngauruhoe is now not surrounded by clouds. How lucky you can be! Here I needed food. We should have made a stop before ascending to the Upper Lake. The way back is not easy on the gravel and loose and rolling stones. We do the trip in 6 hours with some stops and we are very happy to come back to such a nice hotel and well equipped room. That evening we enjoyed a good 3 course meal in the luxury restaurant, very content with the day!  To day we proceed to the Wairarapa wine district and Martinborough. 360 km on the road direction Welllington.