Mordor has certainly left it’s mark on us and for the next couple of days we were hobbling around like an arthritic old couple whinging about our sore legs. To escape both the cold and dark campground at Whakapapa and the incoming rain, we took refuge in a cute little youth hostel in Taupo aeh Turangi aeh Taupo … nooo Turangi (leaving Mordor – formerly known as Tongariro National Park – we actually passed through Turangi en route to Taupo, being totally convinced that we had booked a place in Taupo for that night … only to realise that the hostel was in fact located in Turangi after all).
But hey! Thanks to our little detour to Taupo we saw Natalie Portman recovering from her role in “Black Swan” and discovered an amazing New Zealand burger place called Burgerfuel 🙂
When we finally arrived at the “Extreme Backpackers” in Turangi we were greeted by Olli the hostel cat (and secret owner of the place):
And since the youth hostel had its own climbing centre attached to it, we thought we get some training for the next hiking expedition:
Stretching our legs for the first time after Morder on the Turangi river walk:
Gone walkabout 