Demoralized by doom and some other tidbits!

Our day started off when the magic bus completely by-passed us and if not for quick thinking, and the trusty cell phone, we would have missed out on a fairly demoralizing trip! I am coming to realize when you tell people your plans and they say, "Holy shit you can't be serious!", usually it is going to be a challenge. More than one person told us that our water was too limited and our packs were too heavy to cover the rough terrain that lay ahead. With confidence and determination we set off to conquer the famous northern circuit on the tongariro mountain range. The first hour and a half went smooth enough and the views were quite breathtaking. The clouds were covering Mt. Ruapehu as well as Ngauruhoe, aka Mt. Doom! The ominous clouds came and went as day continued. We arrived at a sign informing us that our destination, the Emerald Lakes, were only 3 hours away. We figured, it being two o'clock and all, we would be there around five o'clock giving us a few hours of daylight to set up and maybe even continue our hike. The terrain changed drastically going from relatively flat to what seemed like straight up, we were going up several thousand meters over a short distance. We took our first break for lunch around 3:30 and thats when things got interesting. The weather decided to take a turn for the worst. The winds picked up (what we later found out they were around 80 mph) and the clouds started moving closer towards us and were turning rather dark. The terrain steadily became less covered, steeper, and rockier. The terrain combined with the 70-80 mph head wind, combined with the 50-57lb packs, combined with the temperature dropping drastically, combined with the elevation and thinning of the air was quickly spelling disaster for our morale as well as our bodies. With only a few hundred yards, and two impossibly steep hills, ahead of us to our destination my body and mind began to give out. My legs were cramping, probably due to dehydration, and the wind was making it impossibly hard to climb any further. What should have taken us an hour had now rolled on two, things were looking worse by the second. I decided after the first hill I could move no more and would therefore have to set up camp just 200 yards short of my intended camp zone. I rested for a couple of hours and after an attempt to rehydrate myself I decided that I could make it up the final hill if I really pushed myself. I hurried to pack my tent and sleeping bag and by the time I had it was nearing ten o'clock. The moon was providing ample light and I knew that I could make it. I started up the hill and with only 50 feet to go a cloud covered up the moon as well as the remaining trail in front of me. After 30 minutes I decided the cloud would not lift and that I could not make it down, due to the steep terrain and limited visibility. I was going to have to set up camp, again, on a steep hill covered in rocks, morale was falling rapidly again. I attempted to set up my tent and was finding it very difficult in the winds to put the rain fly on. After the tent took its fourth tumble I decided to risk it and not put the rain fly up. The winds were whipping and the temperature was dropping as I crawled into my sleeping bag preying that I would wake up in the morning. (side note: Mt. Ngauruhoe is an active volcano and therefore, it pumps out immense amounts of sulphur gas. The warning signs advised that they may sometimes be enough to knock you out. I was sleeping inside 500 yards of it and the smell of sulphur was sickening as well as making me tired) I finally convinced myself that I would live through the night and that I could relax enough to go to bed when I heard what I thought was a bear breaking a stick. Two things clued me in to the fact that this was no bear breaking a stick. 1) I am in new zealand on the middle of a mountain with no bears in at least 1000 miles of me. 2) the tent collapsing on me. The wind was so intense it literally snapped my tent poles in half. I decided that the night could get no worse and that getting out of my tent was not going to do anything but make me cold and angry. I chose to suck it up and get some sleep, this is when the rain started, morale dug a hole back to America. I woke up the following morning sore, freezing cold, soaking wet, pissed off, hungry, and demoralized. I made my way up to the lakes and came to an intersection showing the quickest way off the mountain, and the direction of my planned hike. A fellow hiker told me the weather was going to get worse and continue to rain for two more days. I then came to another intersection this was not a physical one but one in my life. I had to choose to suck it up and trudge on in the cold rain with my broken down tent, or to tuck my tail, drop my head and leave for the car park. 3 hours later two gentlemen from Auckland were giving us a ride back to a hostel 20 minutes drive down the road. Although I was demoralized I feel that any sane man would have made the same decision. (side note: if you disagree with this I don't really care) We arrived in Turangi and booked ourselves into the extreme backpackers hostel and I took the best shower and nap I have ever taken in my life. The hostel was very nice and as we were relaxing a German girl barged into our room and the three of us had a staring competition. She asked why we were in her room and after explaining we had been sent here by the front desk she informed us that her and three other people would be staying here. The problem with this is that there were only four beds, two of which were occupied by myself and Donnie. We attempted to work out the situation and in haste decided it would be easier to move ourselves to the 8 person share room and allow the Germans to take the room. As we were cooking our dinner for the night I realized that I needed to hang my laundry up. We had met some Americans in the hostel earlier and they were attempting to wind down and get some sleep. As I was hanging up some pants to dry I heard a loud thud followed by a resounding, "GOD D****IT!!!). I turned to find the American girl covering her blood spewing head, she walked into a window corner and got a pretty sick gash. I checked out her cut and ran into the kitchen to grab some ice and towels as well as to inform her sister of the situation. She was rushed off to the hospital to get stitches and I returned to my dinner. The night ended with us talking to the room stealing Germans, now our friends, about hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. (for some reason this is all people know about Louisiana and they have a lot of questions.) We woke up the next morning and the Hostel manager put us in a better room due to our easy-going attitudes and my daring attempts to achieve Hasselhoff status with the previous nights rescue! The following days were pretty eventless but I found that Turangi, although horribly boring, was my favorite town so far. I am planning some side trips as I am typing this,off of my almost full journal of notes, and as I figure more things out I will keep everyone updated! Keep the comments coming and I apologize about the lack of pictures it takes forever to upload them and once is enough for me (facebook). If you are not on facebook and would like to see some pictures let me know and I will suck it up and attempt to put them on here! Thanks for keeping up and HAPPY NEW YEARS from Wellington!