We left Munduk at 9am and were ready for our drive to Padangbai. We wanted to see more of Bali and so headed north first towards Lovina, stopped there at the beach to see the falling down dolphin statue and got a little harassed by hawkers trying to sell tours or massages and so on. We didn’t stop for long but stretched the legs and had a little explore along the streets.

We drove through the very busy Singaraja but didn’t feel the need to stop until we reached the artful temple Pura Mdduwe Karang, there was a small donation on arrival and the locals who run the place were keen to give us a little tour for some extra cash. It’s all a bit staged but we did notice some tourists sneaking in the side and moved around the temple very quickly to avoid this. We didn’t know any better and so just gave them some money and left. The temple is really beautiful though with some very distinguished carvings including one of a Dutch man on a bicycle, the first to bring bikes over to Bali.

We then made our way southwards and drove towards the very tourist-centred Gunung Batur. Most people will visit this at around 5am to see the sunrise, and the surrounding village is full of hawkers, expensive buffet style restaurants and of course tourists. We asked our driver Ketut (our driver the other day was also called Ketut – perhaps it means ‘driver’) to take us to a local warring rather than a buffet place and he did not disappoint. In Kitamani he pulled over at a small place offering the local dish of Ikan Mujair; small sweet fish caught in the volcanic lake and grilled in spices served with rice and a side of fish head in broth. Okay the fish head wasn’t to our taste but the grilled fish was really good and it was nice to have the local dish. For all 3 of us to eat and have drink we paid 53,000 IRPS which is around $5, not bad.

He then took us to a look out over Gunung Batur away from the main look out areas, we had a good view out to the volcano and it surrounds of lava fields, rich farm land and the volcanic lake Danau Batur below. When we left the area completely we were moving towards our final destination Padangbai, and in total the drive was around 6-7 hours with stops. We went straight to Topi Inn at the far end of the bay and opted for a room costing 200,000 for the night, it was a family room and way too big for us (we actually felt a little bad for taking a room with 2 spare beds!) but we didn’t want to be wandering around too much searching for better deals.

Later on we realised we really should have found a room elsewhere, Topi Inn has a great backpackers vibe especially in the cafe and along the balcony, but at around 8-9pm they started playing the loudest bad euro pop which mean’t we literally had to shout to hear each other speak. The entire place is made of bamboo and so the music just gets everywhere. We recommend this place for food and drinks and if you want to party, but not to sleep.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After three nights in Ubud we organised a driver to take us to the mountain village of Munduk in the north of Bali. Andre and Martha joined us on our journey to explore more of the island and share the fee of the driver. First stop along the way was the Bali Butterfly Park. We were unsure if we wanted to see this but for 50,000rp each we headed into the netting to see the butterflies. There was an assortment of butterflies and moths as well as stick insets and beetles which the staff are very eager to place upon your body. The conditions for the animals were not great, very poor for the spiders, and if you do not like butterfly taxidermy then this may not be the place for you.

Further driving north we approached one of Bali’s many volcanoes where another of its most sacred of temples; Pura Taman Ayun located at the very foot of the volcano. Everyone who enters will need to wear a sarong for most temples, which you can rent on arrival if you do not have one already. We explored the temple, walked around the lake complex and whilst chatting to a local man he suggested to visit the river. It looks like fresh water from the mountains but it wasn’t worth the walk down to see it with rubbish festooned on the sides with some very rough toilets.

Driving around Bali you get to see the real scope of the island. Pretty much everywhere is utilised for village and town life, food production and catering for tourists. The rice terraces at Jatiluwih were impressive with hundreds of thousands of green tones fluctuating between the shafts of sunlight. Our driver took us to a buffet lunch overlooking the terraces costing 70,000rp which we decided not to participate in as the food looked poor and expensive for some non authentic Indonesian food, instead we heading further down the road to somewhere more appealing. The second temple stop of the day was at the lake temple Pura Ulun Danu. Strangely no sarong was needed here, it looked more like a business opportunity rather than a holy site, nether the less we visited and enjoyed the water temple combo.

We eventually arrived in Munduk 7 hours after leaving Ubud and haggled for a room at the Karang Sari for 180,000rp per night. The room was nice enough, it just needed a thicker coat of paint on the ceiling and walls to stop it looking shabby. After waving goodbye to Andre and Martha for their return journey to Ubud we explored the street(s) of Munduk. The temperature here is much lower than the surrounding area due to the slight increase in altitude and we had a nice sunset whilst eating at Karang Sari overlooking the valleys below.

The owner of Karang Sari invited us to watch a group of local boys practicing gambelan, a traditional Indonesian style of music to be preformed at a temple ceremony. They were very good and we enjoyed a 15 minute show before our ears could no longer take the high decibel limit. Before bed we met our other room mate, a big black spider who rented the bathroom, although it gave Helen a good scare we didn’t mind and let he/she live in peace.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After a spot of skyping home from Hastings and a drive out to some of the beaches south of Napier at midday we got in touch with Roam located in Tongariro to see if the park shuttle service was operating for the next day. They answered with a yes and so we booked ourselves onto the 8am bus with the knowledge that the weather forecast was looking good for our hike.

The drive to Tongariro from Napier is via highway 60 which led us through some fantastic views across to the volcanic park and snow-peaked mountains. It took us 4+ hours or so to reach the campground in Mangahuia with a road-side picnic stop along the way. The DOC campground was already looking full and we found the last van spot. It’s only $4 per person at this campground but it does fill up quickly and by 7pm more and more people were driving in for the hike the next day. We ended up sharing our space with another van as they couldn’t get a spot. In anticipation of a very early start we were in bed by 9pm and wrapped up warm as we could tell it was going to be a chilly one.

It was freezing in the van over night and we did have frost on the windows in the morning for the first time too. We quickly changed from thermals to thermal layering and decided to get to Whakapapa village so we could get a parking spot early and have breakfast there. The campsite was packed so we figured it made sense to get out before the rest of the campground did the same. So we enjoyed breakfast as the sun was warming us up and we overheard locals talking about how good the weather would be today. Yes! We had picked a good day to do the walk which was confirmed when we got on the 8am shuttle bus and they kept going on about how it was the best day yet. After 30 minutes or so in the bus we arrived at the start of the track at Mangatepopo car-park and had a few safety briefings which took another 10 minutes or so. By which time more and more shuttles were turning up full of hikers so we could tell it was going to be a busy walk.

The crossing starts a little like the Miners path at Snowdon; very steady gravel paths and it’s pretty much like this until we reached the Soda Springs. We had both peaks surrounding us; the Mount Ngauruhoe Volcano aka Mordor in Lord of the Rings and the Mount Tongariro. We took the path out to the springs to get a few photos and then re-joined the main path along with what seemed to be around several hundred other hikers. It was busy! We zipped up the steps which has the name Devil’s staircase and at times does feel very devilish, passing by hikers along the way. It does get annoying as the paths aren’t that wide so we ended up backing up behind hikers who didn’t really let us by which annoyed Dave immensely. It took us around 2 hours to reach the first summit area which then gives you the opportunity to take the path up to the volcano. We decided to do the Mt Tongiriro Summit instead and so continued onwards along the plains below the two peaks. Its a flat muddy plain which leads you unto another steep path. This is where it starts getting volcanic. At the next rest stop we took the path toward the Mt Tongiriro Summit which is around an hour and twenty detour, not everyone does this so we got to avoid the busy paths and enjoyed less tourists making this crossing. We hiked along rocky to very unstable ash like terrain before eventually walking up the path on snow. The snow then led us back onto a rocky ridge and we enjoyed a little cereal bar break whilst taking in the views. We could see the car-park where we started from and across the valley to the mountain ranges.

On making our way back to the main path we skidded down the snow as others went down on their bums and rejoined the main path. At this point we came to the red craters which were different from the surrounding landscape and then along a very scree-rocky path which with the amount of hikers going down was really dusty. This path led us down to the Emerald lakes; a group of small aqua pools with sulphur smoking out from the rocks behind. We enjoyed another tuna lunch and then set off past the Blue Lake. This is the most volcanic and active part of the hike bringing in spectacular views all around. When we left the lake area we were on our way down.

It was a long path back to the car-park at Ketetahi and the terrain went from volcanic to grassy meadows and had a very Scottish highland feel to it all. We could see out to Lake Taupo and were really blown away by the contrast in landscapes from the start of the walk. We got down to the car-park at 3.45pm ready for the 4pm bus, the last bus was leaving at 5pm so we had given ourselves plenty of time. On the bus back to the main village we felt very satisfied with our hike, it goes on the list of epic hikes we’ve down so far. The shuttle service with Roam cost $35 each for a 2-way service. We didn’t really want to use the shuttle both ways but it’s difficult getting back to the car-park where the hike starts and its supposedly not as secure as leaving your car at the main car-park in Whakapapa so we decided to go for the easier option.

Back at the van we freshened up and decided to make our way to Wanganui which is around 100km south of the park. It took us a couple of hours to reach Wanganui and we stayed at Avro Motel and holiday park which cost us a measly $20, not bad with free showers and kitchen use. This was our second night of eating out since we made it to New Zealand and we opted for Thai Villa in the centre of town, the food was reasonable and it was nice to have someone else cook for us.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)