Day 129 - Mt. Taranaki

19.58 – Had to get up early again today. 06.30 to be exact. It was definitely worth it even if I did have a bad sleep due to my cold keeping me awake half the night. Anyway, I had my regular shower, finished packing my stuff and ate a quick breakfast before the shuttle bus picked me up at 07.30. It was an hours drive to the start of the walk. An hour of talking the usual shite to the driver who was a bit of a boring git! The day was already promising to be beautiful with hardly a cloud in the sky. You could see across the Tongariro National Park and there was mist hanging to the ground in hollows which made for an even better view. When I got to the start of the Curtis Falls track, I said bye to Ian and set off. I was already cold out but because I was in the bush it was even worse. Unfortunately the track was really wet and overgrown making it pretty hard going. In some places there was ice on the track making climbing the hills awkward. Pretty soon I was at the snow line and then at 12.00 I had climbed as high as I planned for the day. There were some fellow walkers up there and we ate out lunch together enjoying the spectacular views before heading back down. My cold hadn’t go in the way and I had done my second best walk ever. I was way ahead of schedule so I had to wait at the visitor centre talking to an old couple for 2 hours. I also had fish and chips for tea as a treat but I will be having a quiet night because I am really tired. What a day though!