ECT, Part 5

By the time we got to the end of the East Cape, it had been a long day. We continued on for about another 2 hours--inland and south--to Taupo, where we got some overpriced Indian food and crashed at a backpackers. The Taupo region has been featured before here, during Julie's visit, including Taupo and Rotorua, and also the Tongariro Crossing (here, here, and here). When she and I drove north to Taupo, the final couple of hours were a great drive, featuring Tongariro National Park, in which lies the Crossing. But we didn't get any pictures, figuring we'd get them on the way back south. Big mistake. Never employ that reasoning in New Zealand. If you get good weather, take the picture.

Anyway, that leg of the trip takes place on the Desert Road, which is a pretty cool stretch of high desert. It was summer then, so there was no snow on the mountains. But this time, there was plenty of snow, and thankfully Jesse and I had pretty good weather. So here's what the scene looks like from the Desert Road.

As noted before, the conical mountain is (if memory serves) the one that formed the visual basis for Mordor in Lord of the Rings, and is where Julie and I did the Crossing (from this angle, we headed up its backside, on its right, and then headed further right).