I accidentally let time get away from me! And now I’m already back on the South Island, and there’s no way I’m going to be able to do my time up north justice. So for now, here are a few pictures, and a promise to try and do better capturing these final six weeks!
The Coromandel’s beaches in the summer are pretty hard to beat…
Octopus BayStarting the trek to the Pinnacles HutI spy, with my little eye, a little hut in the middle of all that greenThe Pinnacles! Can you see me climbing up the first set of ladders?Little Gary, big forestSuccess! After sitting at a trailhead for a month for work, this hike kicked my butt super hardI couldn’t get enough of this view. Thank god Gary had the presence of mind to take some picturesAfter a night in the hut, we woke up early to watch the sunrise, and we were not disappointedAt first it was too cloudy to see anything, but as the sun rose the fog turned all kinds of oranges and reds, swirling around the mountain tops as it evaporatedThe Dawn Wall?Honestly this might just be a still from Jurassic ParkLiving in a van has its challenges, but sometimes freedom camping in places like this makes them feel worth it. If you look hard enough you can see the super moon risingRotorua! Creepy. And smellyPapatūānuku (Maori for mama earth) was being very uncooperative the entire time we were working at the base of Mount Taranaki. But behind those clouds is a picture perfect volcano, I swearBut the cloudy weather made the sunsets at our campsite all the more epic, so ya lose some ya win some, I guessSat at the Tarawera Falls trailhead working for a couple days, and I never stopped being mesmerized by just how clear this water wasIn a country full of waterfalls, this one might be my favoriteWe hiked through misty darkness to be here in time to watch the sun kiss the top of this volcano, and it was really specialThe Tongariro Alpine Crossing is one of the most touristy things to do on the North Island, but it definitely lived up to the hypeHappy!The Red Crater! Also a thing from the Lord of the Rings movies, apparentlyWish an iPhone could better capture just how vibrant that green wasHalfway point!The looooong descentAfter an early, 12 mile day, this hot spring in Taupo felt like the best treatDecided that one 12 mile hike wasn’t enough, so the next day we hiked 6 miles in to Kawakawa Bay at Lake Taupo for a day of rock climbingThis view was absolute heaven. But after a day of multi-pitching plus the hike out, the next morning I was so sore I could barely get out of bed… ya win some, ya lose some!
Taking the Long Way 