Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Tongariro Crossing - This was one of the highlights from my recent stay in New Zealand. Tongariro Crossing is rated one of best one-day treks in the world. The trek basically cuts across two active volcanoes - Mt Ngaurohoe and Mt Tongariro, located in central north island of New Zealand. The trek is 19.4kms long (one way), it took us a little over 6 hours to complete it. I've done a few treks in Queensland's rainforests but Tongariro Crossing easily beats them in all aspects like scenery, terrain, weather conditions and difficulty. It is the most scenic walk I've done so far.

The best parts of the trek for me are:

a. The breathtaking view from Red Crater. The Red crater is reached by climbing a steep section of Volcanic ridge aptly named Devil's staircase. It took us about 90 arduous minutes to reach the top. Hard work. But boy, wattey view!

b. Sliding, falling...sliding, falling on scoria and damp pebble-filled sand. Sore bums...but it was fun!

c. Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake - stunning colour of the lakes! The lakes, we were told, are small volcanic craters. The lake water is obviously unsuitable for drinking due to high mineral content.

d. Soda Springs

Also,

e. Opportunity to take great photographs. Mum Nature overwhelms you with her beauty. The camera, even if its a DSLR, does not do full justice.

f. Hot spa and a cold drink after a hard days work :D Ahh.

Here are some photos of my photos:

The zero km mark.

The green of Mangatepopo Valley

Are you sure? Signboard at the start of Devil's staircase. They did warn us! :) Photo Credit: Lars

Couple. The gentleman had a Canon 7D.

Track to the base of Mt Ngauruhoe

Mt Ngauruhoe. That's a neat cloud cover, isn't it? :)

Some hikers planned to stay overnight. Look, they even brought their kettle!

Green lake. Check out the steam coming from the vents. It smelled soo....sulphury.

I didn't do the Tongariro Summit climb. It's a 1hr and 20mins of 45-50 degree climbing and back. Too much for this slugger. Next time, may be.

It was great. Tongariro Crossing is a must-do if you like hiking and are visiting NZ.

Kondalilla falls

I went hiking at Kondalilla National Park (KNP) last week. KNP is named after Kondalilla falls (the Aboriginal meaning of Kondalilla is rushing waters). It is 100kms north of Brisbane near a beautiful little town called Montville. KNP and Montville is in the Blackall Range. It is always a few degrees cooler than Brisbane making it a popular mountain retreat.

This was my second time hiking at KNP. I met someone special in my first visit. I was hoping for another meeting. It wasn't to be - much to the relief of my mates.

It was a crisp winter morning. The sun was out in its full glory. The track wasn't wet - just damp enough to keep the sticky leaches, fat earthworms and the odd reptile interested. Overall, a great hike.

Here are some pics.




I am still in the transition from the old Powershot A95 to the new SLR. This hike was a good chance to test out all the bells and whistles.

Random thoughts

• I saw these clips of a show by the great Kunnakudi Vaidhyanathan hosted by Vijay TV for Deepavali 200#. Sri Kunnakudi, wearing a coat-suit, plays popular movie songs to the delight of the audience. The ease and elan with which he plays the subtleties in the songs just left me spellbound. Legendary stuff! It's sad the Violin Maestro is not with us any more. His music will live with us forever.

Kaadhal Yaanai (Anniyan)

Mannil Indha Kadhal (don't miss the part where Sri Kunnakudi mimics SPB by playing the charanam without lifting the bow)

He also played: Devuda Devuda , Malarndhu malaradha, MKT's Manmadha leelai

• Is he the Tamil Russell Peters? Badava Gopi! I hope they get rid of the annoying background music for every joke. Good laugh though!

• Ross Taylor said in relief at IPL being shifted from India to SA "If you're dead you cant earn any money..." - *Tonge in cheek* Honest!

• I went hiking this week at Kondalilla National Park. It rained the previous day, the circuit was damp as we walked through the cool, lush green surroundings. The vegetation was thick (as you would expect in a rainforest) and the croaks of frogs and chirps of birds and insects were soothing to the ears compared to the monotonous server hum. The hike was going smoothly until my friend (walking first in the pack) spotted this fella on the track.

We spotted him when he was approx 2-feet away from us. Since all of us were sh*t scared of anything belonging to his species, we stood there for a moment staring at him blankly and wondering what to do. We shooed and stomped our feet to make him move. To our horror, he initially moved towards us and slithered away to his left and just disappeared into the bush. Phew...all of us needed a new set of pants!

• I found a way to make Rasam taste even better. Instead of mashing the paruppu (lentils) with karandi (spatula), mash it with your hands. Paruppu mixes well as a result Rasam tastes better. Previously, paruppu used to stand out like a distant cousin. Now it is a part of the Rasam family. If you are saying "Jee...what a genius Sriram. Tell me something new!" Well, using hands to mash the paruppu may be the proper, regular way. But that doesn't matter!. For a guy who ventured into making Rasam just few months back, this is a big leap. I can never forget my first attempt at making Rasam. I ended up making what looked like a glorified manja thanni than Rasam. I've come a long way from that.
  

• IPL: I am from Chennai. I support Mumbai Indians. Why? Here is the answer in the first few paras of this post.

• I watched Sigappu Rojakkal yesterday. A typical 70s movie. Kudos on Bharathiraja for making a psycho thriller in that era. Kamal, as usual, acted well. I wonder how this movie will be if Kamal and Bharathiraja remake this movie today. Sigappu Rojakkal II. That'll be good!
  

• Saw Ayan. A decent masala movie. Unlike other masala movie directors, I appreciate K V Anand for making the assumption the Tamil Cinema viewers have some IQ in them. You can watch the movie once in theatre for two reasons: one, picturisation of Nenje Nenje song; two, (for chics) after hearing the oohs and aahs in the theatre - Surya and his abs, (for guys) Tamanna.

• A question from my friend. What is the Tamil word for 'swipe'? (as in, swipe your credit card).