> The birdsong was amazing. We must have heard about twenty different bird species in the first five minutes of the walk, none of which I could identify beyond "Hey, it's that bird that goes like THAT! You know! Those sort of birds!" Leen is in for a rough time when she visits. At one point, we walked under two or more bellbirds having a very loud argument. I don't know what it was about, but each bird was very adamant that he was right. I could have stayed there and listened all day. What an amazing range of sounds they have.
>

Ah, fear not! I got a New Zealand birds field guide for Christmas! :) It was not the one I really wanted, but then again the one I wanted was around $95. ;-) However, just out of curiousity I went and looked it up on a New Zealand store page, and it was considerably cheaper. I ended up purchasing it for just over $30 (shipping included!), so I am well prepared for some bird identification. I'm just hoping that they are in range of my binoculars. I'm terrible at identifying birds from their song. :)

> So is the Tongariro Crossing - a one-day hike we picked up info about while at Lake Taupo (where we also spent a day). The Tongariro Crossing is a fairly new track which is apparently rated the best one-day hike in the North Island. It takes in alpine, active geothermal, bush and plains scenery in Tongariro National Park, crossing through the three volcanoes in the park (Mt Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruahoe). You'll be seeing it when "Lord of the Rings" comes out because they did a lot of filming in that area. The hike supposedly takes about seven hours in summer - you need ice axes and other "sounds too much like work" gear in winter. We'll definitely be driving down for THAT hike this summer.
>
> Brunnen-"wondering if Sam and Leen would be up for that one...hmmm, any excuse to go check it out"G

Ah... well... I guess now would be a good time to mention how "not in shape" all of us are. Sam & Dave do little more than sit at computers all day (with Sam having an occasional walk around the building at lunch time), and even though I ride every day, unfortunately that doesn't put me in shape enough for all that walking, not to mention the fact that my knees would not hold up. Sorry
to be such a spoil sport! :(

-Le"wondering if Sam & Dave are going to shoot her now for mentioning such things on the forum"en