Mount Doom

Misty Mountain?

A journey through several miles of dense morning fog and deep into what seemed like the real Middle-Earth – actually named Tongariro National Park – includes endless mind-blowing scenery, summed up by our tour guide in the most appropriate, nail-on-the-head fashion: “the British countryside on steroids”. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Though of course I should be able to, being a writer and all, so shame on me.

Caves And Volcanoes

Waitomo - home to glow worm caves and possibly Hobbits

I’ll cut to the chase here: we visited two caves in Waitomo where we saw glow worms. If you don’t know what they are, then the name is a bit of a give-away. But they’re actually larvae that cling to the cave ceilings, and are bio-luminescent so as to attract prey. It’s only their livers that are glowing though, but in the pitch black of a cave, it makes no difference. As we cruised up and down a cave river in total darkness, we may as well have been looking at a constellation of stars overhead. It was quite otherworldly.