"After a big send off on Saturday morning at Taupo's North Domain, you will follow the beautiful Waikato River to the dramatic Huka Falls. At the falls, the river, normally 100m wide is squeezed through a 20m gorge and over a 20m drop. Every second 250,000 cubic metres of water gushes through the chasm and shoots out over 8m beyond to create a beautiful blue green plunge pool. From here the trail heads up out of the river gorge and through Wairakei Forest to Craters of the Moon - a geothermal wonderland with bubbling craters, mud pools and steam vents."
After an early morning team meet up we all gathered under the start line to have a few photos...if we are completely honest we were all experiencing some nerves, some excitement and well tiredness too... it was afterall 7am!! With various support crew members in tow for moral support and to cheer us on we were already feeling very special but true to their promise Oxfam provided a send off for all walkers that our team certainly will never forget! With an official Maori blessing followed by the Hakka we were all suddenly moved to the verge of tears... all sorts of thoughts passed through our our heads: "this is all for us.." - "arent we special?!" - "Oh my...! What have we got ourselves into?" but before we could dwell on it for too long the final countdown started and we were off...!! Support crew cheering on from the sidelines we walked out into the darkness... the last 100 plus teams of 4 who hadnt started at 6am!
The early darkness soon disappeared and the sky colourings changed through a fantastic range of reds and oranges, after stopping traffic on the highway we were off- those we passed greeted us and kept wishing us well providing more motivation to us all, and even as they sipped coffee in their dressing gowns from their front decks I dont think any of us were wishing to be in their places at that time!! We were full of energy after our send off! We passed the Huka Falls and before we knew it we were going through the Crators of the Moon... all in the early morning light... the mist and steam creating a very tranquil scene but the sheer energy of all the groups around could be felt- it was amazing!
Suddenly the final stretch was before us, we could hear the loud speakers in the distance... could we already be approaching the first checkpoint?! Could it really have been that easy?Welcomed in like heros already not only by our first lot of support crew Adam, Mark, and Finnuala (Grandad and Aiden hadnt quite made it out of bed by that time!) but by the children of Wairakei Primary School too, we lapped up the fantastic atmosphere! Support crew very organised with knowledge of where toilets were and where we were headed to next... taking charge of water top ups and snacks.. whilst we headed to the toilets.... where there were incredibly long queues...
(Tip to the Oxfam crew for next year: 5 toilets for 1000 walkers is definitely not enough... we got cold waiting over 15mins each in a very long queue!)
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