I still bear the bruises from my luge tumble at the start of the week, so I decided to beat myself up further. More on that later.

Lunch on Monday was parked alongside the clear waters of Lake Taupo (the largest lake in NZ), watching black swans, mallards, gulls, and a lone Canadian goose against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. Baby girl enjoyed the avian attention, but was reluctant to share her bread.

We capped off the night with another bonfire and stargazing from the campground road. We only had to dash out of the way of a car once (and Darren still managed to rescue the photo!).

Tuesday was a welcome rest day, with no major activities or driving before lunch. After helpings of hearty chili, we took a stroll up the road to the Tongariro River and the bridge over the Pillars of Hercules, a deep gorge with towering stone towers on each side of the river. The bridge “viewing point” only allows you to see into the gorge from above the Pillars, so the only way to truly see the stony wonders is by traversing the steep bank of the gorge to reach the river. I went on this expedition solo, taking care to mark my steps so I could crawl my way back up the slippery slope. The view was worth the trek!

The morning of Sept 12 was the biggest adventure of all. I’d opted to hire a guide to navigate the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a World Heritage tramp over the saddle between Mt Tongariro and Mt Nguarahoe (aka Mt Doom for you LOTR fans). Boy am I glad I did! Over half of the 20km hike netting 1100m elevation was snow-covered, so much of the hike was with use of crampons, ice axes, and helmets. After conquering the Devil’s Staircase (Jessica asks WHY humans do things like climb mountains), arresting our slides with ice axes, and tramping across craters with crampons, we enjoyed lunch with breathtaking views from the summit of Mt Tongariro (Jessica remembers why humans do things like climb mountains).

Then descending again, a portion of which was by the seat of our pants, sled style. 🙂 My Wisconsin blood got a thrill from that! I got pant legs stuffed with snow as I giggled and sped down the slope, then tried not to giggle further as I stood and shook white plops of snow from my pant legs. 😉

We were spoiled by the weather; nary a cloud, minimal wind, warm temps (I was far overdressed). Then further spoiled by a special excursion to Ketetahi hot springs, which is closed except by special invitation by the local Iwi. As we had two local Maori guides in our group, they offered us the opportunity to see this amazing volcanic vent by tramping through overgrown tussocks and rugged track. What a treat!

The rest of the descent was through lovely forest, but all we were looking forward to was the carpark (parking lot in American English). Four days later I still have some sore spots, but can’t help but grin when I think back to the trek. 😀

Thursday was our last day of the roadtrip. We stopped in Taihape to throw gumboots (I am not a record holder, and you should stand far back when I wind up to throw), bought some fine merino and possum wool clothing, and smirked at cheeky road signs in Bulls. Jessica got her first taste of hand pies (butter chicken; YUM), and we pulled back into the farm at Palmerston North to warm greetings from the Paddison clan.

A bittersweet closing to a wonderful roadtrip adventure. I’d intended to keep up with this blog on our drive back into town, but couldn’t stop myself from gazing out the window and watching the sheep-sprinkled hillsides speed by, fully content and smiling in reflection of the moment. The “YOLO” movement has ebbed in recent years, but it isn’t quite accurate – “you only live once” on this earth, anyway. In the back of a yellow Isuzu bus on a state highway in New Zealand, I considered Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”

DAYM: Do with All Your Might.

Live fully. Do mightily. Carpe Diem.

I’ll just consider myself DAYM Jessica Mae, an inducted member of the Kingdom of Heaven. I like the sound of that. 🙂