Mt. Ruapehu

Technically speaking, winters ended last month. We have spring now and rightly so as you can see wild flowers sprouting on road sides. Soon the barren trees will have leaves and it will mean that I would have witnessed all the four seasons of this beautiful country. So when we were at the peak of winters last month, the boys and I planned a trip to Mt. Ruapehu to witness snow!

A five-hour drive, Mario and I took more than seven hours as we kept taking detours, passing through quaint villages and stopping over for coffee and muffins. I got to know more about Mario, a charming and happy young fellow, loves and plays soccer for a local club here. But one second, Mario is not from Brazil but from Borivali.

Anyway, we took a shared bus from the foothills as it started to rain and only 4WD or cars with snow chains were allowed on top. Our bus driver was a funny talkative guy named Jongo to told us not to expect too much on the top as most activities were closed owing to the weather. He was obviously not aware that Indians played Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh when they saw snow as skiing or snowboarding was below us. As the bus took ascent, we saw snow on the road side and in a few minutes the glimpse of the beautiful, conical, Mt. Ruapehu.

Nitish was waiting for us, patiently at the top. Though we did not discuss but in a way Mario and I were very pleased to make Nitish wait for hours. This was the price he paid for ditching us and leaving a day early with his family. Once together, we grabbed beers and burgers as we knew our priorities. Fed and ‘settled’ we set out to explore the snow. We hiked as much as our shoes would allow and played a lot on snow. Watch this funny video. During our return trip I explained Mutton Curry recipe to the super excited Jongo as I used adjectives like fresh, tender, juicy, crisp generously to get almost everyone in the bus who was eavesdropping, hungry. At one point I was scared that Jongo may bang the bus in excitement.

Our room was OK but we were happy to be loaded with good food. Fresh vegetables sautéed with garlic prawns, clarified butter tossed chicken biryani and succulent seekh kababs and lots of spicy chakna (finger food) on the side. And did I mention a full bottle of single malt?

There were two revelations in the morning. First was that Mario can make excellent eggs and toast for breakfast. And the second was the boys alleging that I was snoring away to glory the whole night. I think they just made it up as a way to deter me to go to the snow again as neither of them seemed keen. While the allegation was politely refuted, I complied to the not-snow-again request and as an alternate we went for walk to a waterfall. Thick foliage, lovely smell of moist forest and soothing sound of small little streams every now and then filled us with the expectation that the water fall was nearby. In the end, it turned out to be a three-hour hike but well worth it.

The return trip was equally noteworthy. As Nitish drove, we took multiple detours, many photo-ops stops and a stopover at the dreamy town of Cambridge for, guess what? Coffee. By the time we entered Auckland, it was late in the evening but just in time for car-o-bar at Sandringham (place famous for Indian restaurants and stores) followed by a nice dinner at Paradise.

As eyes filled with spectacular scenery, stomach filled with sumptuous food and time filled with lively company, it made a terrific recipe for fond memories.