With part of the reason for visiting New Zealand being my love of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films, it was pencilled into my pre-travel plans to try and see as much of the locations and sets used in the film as possible. It was inevitable, therefor, that this day would come, and I was thoroughly excited at the prospect. Today I would be hiking through ‘Orc’ territory as I decided to complete the Tongariro Crossing.

It was a day of exploration today around the surrounding areas of Taupo. The first stop was the ‘Buried Village’ in Te Wairoa, the second stop was Wai-o-Tapu. It was sure to be an interesting day.

The past few days had really taken it out of me it has to be said, and I wanted to have a day to just relax a little, maybe take in some of the sights. I also had the daunting task of shaving today – the first time since the beginning of the trip.