25th of December – Christmas Day

I awoke this morning at 8am to a cold chill down my back. It felt like I was in Ireland on a damp cold winters day. I looked over and cuddled into my gostoso, as he lay asleep beside me in the jeep. Outside the green ferns moved gently in the alpine breeze. I snuggled in and wished Jojo a Merry Christmas. He turned to me and smiled. Our first Christmas together on the far side of the world for both of us. 7500 miles and 15 hours behind and to the east was Sao Paulo and 11000 miles and 13 hours behind and to the west was Dublin. The majority of our family and friends would still be celebrating Christmas Eve in their homes and local pubs. We lay here at 1100 metres above sea level, in Whakapapa Campsite, on the side of the infamous Mount Ruapehu.

We have being on the road now for 6 days, staying in free campsites, parking overnight in forests and the sort. Christmas has being the last thing on our minds until the last 48 hours. The day before yesterday, while travelling across from the volcanic thermal village of Rotura we got our third puncture in three days. We sat in the sunshine on the side of the road waiting for a tow to the local town. The girl over the phone had told us that the pickup was not included in our breakdown recovery package. A friendly Mauri gentleman arrived in a colourful lime and orange pickup truck. Before I knew it, we were speeding along, sitting in our jeep Mr Mac, on the back of the truck. He dropped us off at a tyre centre in town of Taupo. When I asked him how much I owed him he told me it was covered by the AA. I thanked him and headed in to find out the price of the two tyres we needed replaced. $254 each for the cheapest ones. One of the staff asked me to follow me outside. He said that I could drive around to Roadstone around the corner and get secondhand ones. Delighted with this we locked up the jeep to head off. Before I had walked a foot away, the same young guy said he had some old tyres that were still in good enough order to keep me on the road. He threw two tyres on in a matter of minutes and told me there was no charge. Being that it was Christmas. Suddenly I was reminded of what Christmas is all about. Its not about the commercialism. Its not about the gifts. Its about the love and compassion for our fellow man. This total stranger knew what was needed when the time arose and stepped forward. Moved by this act of love I offered him a tip, which he refused initially and then accepted as a sign of our gratitude.

Since arriving in New Zealand and hearing how excited Jojo had got when he saw snow for the first time in Ireland two months before, I hoped we could be somewhere near snow for Christmas time. On the road to Taupo, we had seen snow on a mountain top in the distance. We decided now to book into a campsite on the side of that mountain. We headed into Woolworths to do our Christmas shopping. We agreed to buy anything we wanted as our gifts to each other. We went a little overboard and ended up with a gluttonous quantity that would barely fit into the jeep. It was nice for once not only to buy Homebrand and to be sensible about our budget. We found a free campsite that night on the outskirts of town. Delighted with all our tasty delicacies we got into the Christmas spirit straight away with some beers. Sitting at the back of the Mr Mac in our fold out chairs and two new oil torches, happy as could be.

Christmas Eve was like any other. Pissing rain and overcast. After having breakfast, we headed over to the natural outdoor thermal pools in the local park. Undressing in the drizzling rain and submerging yourself into bath-like temperature water on the side of a river is one of the most unusual things I have ever experienced. The source of this wonderful heat was two powerful small waterfalls gushing hot water into the side of the flowing river. Jojo found it too hot and moved closer to the flowing river for the cooler section. I lay down in the steaming bubbling jacuzzi of delicious heat. Other bathers sat around us soaking in this free and wonderous natural feature of nature. We met a Libyan guy and three Irish ladies that choose to share this amazing morning. We spent over an hour here moving from hot to cool and washing ourselves under the powerful waterfalls. Afterwards, we walked back through the public park in the misting rain with our swimming trunks and towels, arm in arm.

We had a delicious lunch in the town and I spent the next couple of hours trying to find a haridresser to cut the mop I had harvested over the previous six months. Finally when all hope was gone, a fantastic smart and posh little stylist called Chocolate Blondes accepted me in for a 5pm appointment. I was their last cut of the day and given a chilled glass of white wine. One hour later a new Sam appeared. Looking rather smart and more normal again. We headed off to our mountain campsite. We watched the altimeter in Mr Mac rise higher and higher. Suddenly through wafting clouds we saw the majestic snow covered Mount Ruapehu rising before us. After checking into our campsite, we headed off on the final 6km journey up the side of the mountain. Reaching the alpine and deserted ski village excited and hoping to walk in the snow. We trekked by foot for another 40 minutes and finally we reached a small field of snow. We had achieved our small and wonderful challenge. To swim in bath-like waters in the morning and to grab handfuls of snow in the evening.