Day 9
We are blessed with sun for the entire day and I organize a guide for a dedicated team to venture to Crater Lake near the summit of Mt Ruapehu (2755m).
At 1pm we meet our guide, John, at the base station and get equipped with avalanche tracking devices, shovels and probers. We catch several chairlifts and t-bars to get to the highest slope in NZ. But instead of skiing down we take our jackets off , shoulder our boards or skis and start our ascent to Crater Lake.
The view is breathtaking , so is the climb. We march on. Claire shows great determination and when her shin starts hurting half way up she soldiers on, the mountain is calling.
After 1 hour and 25 minutes we reach the top of the saddle and the peak comes into sight. The walking suddenly becomes easier, we are almost there, we’ve almost made it… finally the crater lake appears. The water is steaming (30 degrees Celsius) surrounded by ice and snow and there is a subtle sulfur fragrance in the air.
A drink of water, a chocolate bar, a group photo, another look around and we turn back, this time on skis and we challenge ourselves with runs on icy patches and free terrain skiing.
At 5 pm we get back to our hut, happy, tired, inspired and ready for a shower. My compliments to those kids going the extra mile in this incredible landscape and especially to Claire, who is holding the flag high for the girls.
good fun...
ReplyDeleteWell done Claire Grace - you are amazing! I must say publicly to you all, I am very proud!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephan for your commitment to the class and making these experiences possible.
So So appreciated!
Diane Chew would love more pictures!
ReplyDeleteHi Stefan,
ReplyDeleteIch finde euren Blog so ansteckend und aufregend. Jeden morgen und abend freuen wir uns auf Bilder und neue Abendteuergeschichten. Einfach super was fuer eine Chance fuer unsere Kinder so etwas zu erleben.
Kannst du Julian vielleicht mitteilen, dass wir unser Haus heute verkauft haben aber erstmal fuer die naechsten 6 Monate dort weiter wohnen werden.
Alles Liebe
Manu und Matt
Hi
ReplyDeleteJessica Wilkinson's space has nothing written under it although she tells me she did write one, could we please see it?
Dear Stefan and Mitch,
ReplyDeletewe look forward to your photos and reports and follow the blog every day. We are impressed always again about this class trip. This many beautiful impressions of nature, traditional maori-meetings and experiences which all of you have together is a valuable treasure. We thank you Stefan and Mitch for these wonderful trip/journey. In the reports we can feel the joy which have the pupils also like you both. We see always laughing faces and are happy that Sarah can be with you all. Nobody will forget this impressions and I wish I can be a pupil on this trip.
Thanks !!! And sorry about my english, but I think yuu know what I mean.
Yvonne from Berlin/germany