PARAPARAUMU – WHAKAPAPA VILLAGE (Tongariro National Park), 22 May 2024
Jon and I awoke to find that luckily, the van hadn’t been blown over or in half, and instead was sitting happily in the sunshine looking over the sea. Energy recovery was the name of the game after that distance, so it was a slightly later wake-up, thankfully.
We grabbed an *AMAZING late breakfast at Marine Parade Eatery before we set off back into the mountains of Tongariro National Park. Well, actually, back to Mordor and the active volcano that is Mount Doom!
The journey itself only had a single, brief coffee stop. So, realistically, there’s not much to write about other than the scenery turning into the lush deciduous and coniferous rainforests (reminiscent of the UKs much missed rainforests) into sweeping volcanic plains. In many ways, being from Leicestershire, it was similar to home.
We’d done a supermarket shop, so I had a veritable feast of some nice beers and ramen noodles… tell me you’re on the road without telling me you’re on the road.
We couldn’t wait to arrive at the first campsite where we could actually plug our van in and use it properly, something that Jon actually never did. I’m not quite sure why. But, he never cooked, used the kettle, sink, or even the toilet. The most Jon used was his bed (the upper cubby, the largest space) and the fridge. Each to their own.
It was around this time I’d been messaging with McKenzie about her and Joseph’s journey home. Turns out while we had been watching whales and driving and singing, they had had their flights from Houston to Alabama cancelled and had had to get to Dallas and then to home and the entire journey took almost 36 hours. It usually takes around 13-18 from the States.
Not quite the same as these insane views, but at least we could still keep the morale high and laughs prolonged. Plus, it’s always nice to still talk to friends after you’ve said goodbye. It cements things somehow!
After arriving, plugging in and heating the van properly (it was a dream come true), we went on a quick nature walk around Whakapapa Village. This place is stunning. Surprise, surprise. Though, I’ve never stayed somewhere with protocols of:
Air raid siren? Fine. Just Fire Brigade.
Air raid siren and voice over? Get to the evac point, lava is coming…
Once back, Jon (again rather than use the cooker or anything) went full dystopia and ate a can of cold beans from the can (the bowls were 2 ft away in a drawer) before going up to his cubby hole at around 7.30-8pm.
Our main game has been 20 questions on the road, along with music (which has mainly consisted of 90s and 00s pop bangers. Lolly’s Mickey cover anyone??! And musicals). But, that soon died off. Jon asked for the stereo to be turned off and that was that just me and my beers and noodles (sounds sad as anything! I did add veggies…to the beer), and the evening suddenly felt very lonely snd solitary, but for messaging my partner. I found the homesickness coming on in droves then. I wanted someone to share these places with to the max. Including the evenings.
That said, I’m not the driver. I sincerely applaud Jon’s concentration stamina in doing the driving. Hero. Hero, I say!!!
– Jake,
25 May 2024
P.S. Jon is also writing about his version of events over on his Tumblr page, Misplaced Midlanders! Check it out!
The Long Expected Journey 