When the prescribed trail sucks, you make your own adventure. This time it involved lots of hitchhiking and the best mountain summit we could ask for.

A canoe trip down the river for Christmas? Sure, why not. 

Let's take a side trip off trail around a massive, beautiful volcano. 

And now, what you've all been waiting for... Mt. Doom!

As we moved south out of Hamilton, we found ourselves climbing Mt. Pirongia, doing our best to avoid hellish hoards of BlackBerry bush thorns, and hiking the lovely Timber Trail.

We may not have hiked for three days, but that doesn't mean we didn't have an adventure. 

We, the dirty hikers, who own naught but what we carry on our backs, who walk everywhere we go, stand in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Auckland.