From the road

We left Ailie's this morning - we won't meet again till we are both back in UK.

We stopped at a Pa (fortified village) for a walk - it was a really steep climb as obviously that's the most advantageous situation for such places. Then we continued on to the National Park. This is our first sighting of Mt Ruapehu, near here we stay. Our friends T and A (met 10 years before on a cattle boat sailing up the Chilean fjords) met us at Skotel hostel, our base for the next 3 nights. We hope to get good enough weather to make the Tongoriro Crossing. T and A have done all these walks years ago and will drive us to the start and pick us up at the end, as they are no longer able to join us owing to hip trouble.