Beautiful New Zealand
After being away for a few days and doing a few mountain walks in the north island of New Zealand I thought I would share a couple of my favourite shots with you all as well as a little info about the trip 
My husband and I spent four days in a place called Ohakune (with 15 teenagers no less lol) and rather than ski or board this year we decided to do some of the local bush and mountain walks. Although we love nature and often do bush walks etc we don't usually climb mountains so this was going to be real fun
My husband is a forest ranger and his job involves lots of walking on all sorts of terrain so he'd be fine but apart from playing squash a couple of times a week I pretty much do zero exercise. Knowing that mountain climbing could be quite strenuous I thought I should put some effort in to getting ready for it. My husband kindly found me an online 40 min extreme workout consisting only of squats and lunges. I did a total of 40 mins of the workout (over three sessions 20 mins, 10 and 10 spaced over the three weeks) - I did say it was an extreme workout - I didn't want to overdo it! As crazy as this sounds it seemed to do the trick nicely as I experienced all the pain, stiffness and inability to walk after doing the workouts but was quite comfortable during and after the mountain climbing.
Anyway on arriving in Ohakune we started out with a 1 1/2 hour bush walk out to a beautiful waterfall. On the second day we did a mountain walk (which was much more climbing than walking) - there was a path at the beginning but most of the walk involved looking for marker posts and clambering up and down rock faces to spot and get to the next marker. Then we had a day off with bad weather and on the final day we did a 6 hour walk up the saddle between Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu, across a big crater and up a ridge to look out over another amazing crater and a crater lake. The complete walk is 8-10 hours one way but we just walked in and up for 3 1/2 hours and back out for 2 1/2. We plan on doing the whole thing next winter as there are some amazing crater lakes higher up.
For anyone who has never walked up a mountain I would definitely recommend the experience. It was so beautiful up there - the quiet and the beauty was something special so if you ever get the opportunity - do have a go!
6 Answers
Amazingly beautiful! I would love to hear more and see more. Why don't you write up something about your trip in Spanish for us to ponder? 
Wonderful pictures, Marie-Claire! What a beautiful land you live in. Thanks so much for sharing your story and your pictures.
Here's a couple more
The Land of the Long White Cloud ...
The last time I visited NZ I didn't need a passport to go there - you just "went" (from Australia) so that's how long ago that was.
It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen and my (Kiwi) friends assure me that is still very much the case.
Your photos are stunning but being a mountain-lover I perhaps am slightly prejudiced. Hopefully one day in the not too distant future I'll return - I'll bring my walking boots - and my thermals :o
That sounds amazing Maria! Thanks so much for sharing the experience and the pics. I'm curious to know how fifteen teens joined you. I work with the teens at our church and they are so much fun to spend time with. They are occasionally challenging, but always full of energy and laughter.
The mountains are gorgeous! I am always fascinated to see and hear about different places around the world. I think I'll add New Zealand to my list of places I would like to travel to!! 
oops post duplicated :(
