New Zealand plans taking shape

Well, the plans for the New Zealand adventure are coming together nicely. I’ve booked a bunch of accommodations on the North Island; Sarah will handle most of the South Island plans.

We’re mostly booking smaller, locally owned hotels. They operate a bit differently than an international chain, where you visit the Web site, enter your dates, pick your room and you’re done. With the smaller places in New Zealand (and in Australia, Costa Rica and Belize, too), you often have to send an inquiry to the hotel with your dates. The staff then gets back to you to confirm, and that’s when you get down to the credit card number business. It takes a bit more time, but it’s worth it. So far, the New Zealand hotels have been super-fast and friendly.

One of the more interesting places we’re staying will be Woodlyn Park. We’ve reserved a room in the tail section of the airplane, which should be all sorts of cool. The New Zealand Department of Conservation was also exceptionally friendly and helpful in giving me the lowdown on how to get hut passes in the Tongariro area.

For me, hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing will be one of the key points of this trip. Obviously, the New Zealand government is really clued in about how to make a hike even better … throughout its parks, you’ll find huts that can range from barely a lean-to to fully heated and enclosed affairs. And they’re pretty inexpensive for a night. That frees up a lot of room in your pack that would otherwise be devoted to a tent.

This Tongariro area is silly with volcanoes, which I absolutely love. One of those volcanoes is Mount Ngauruhoe. If you saw Lord of the Rings, you caught a glimpse of it standing in as Mount Doom. I can’t claim to be much of a Rings fan, but I loved the scenery and cinematography, and I’m really eager to get some photos from the top of this monster.