Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk

It’s Vic’s BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!! She’s 21! (Oh and it’s also the Queen’s birthday so we have Monday off from classes.) A whole bunch of us piled into a party bus and headed out to Te Urewera National Park to explore the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk. We left Friday after classes and set off for our first stop in Rotorua which was just a hostel for the night. Had our first set of cakes that night 🙂 We then drove out another 3 hours Saturday morning and started our 46 km journey along the lake. For the first few miles it rained, a lot, but on the bright side we got hike in the mud!! That night we stayed in the Waiharuru Hut which was about 4 hours into the trek making it right before dark. That night was a real cold one to be sleeping in my $5 NZD sleeping bag. The next day, with very little sleep was Vic’s real b-day and so we celebrated by waking up before the sun so we could see the sunrise a little further onto the water. We also needed to get a head start on the light as we would be hiking 11 hours that day! This was an eventful day with me falling about ten different times due to the very muddy path from the day before. By the time we made it out of the woods to the top of the hill where the Panekire Hut sat it was dusk. We celebrated with another cake as we sat by the very small stove to try and defrost before dinner. Dinner consisted of ramen per usual and then a game of cards before bed. The next day was only around 3 hours to the bottom of the mountain which then was the end of the track. Some gorgeous views that day as the sun was out shining for us! That was when we got the full view of the lake. The trek ended and then a long 6 hour drive home where everyone passed out except Andy who’s the best driver there ever was!! And to conclude the birthday weekend we stopped at Fez Kebab (a Turkish restaurant that everyone is obsessed with) for a quick dinner and then back to reality. As if we didn’t say it enough, HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIC!!