Woooooo-hooooo! Mountains!

This view of snowclad Mount Ruapehu (our destination in a couple of days' time) greeted us after the mother of all climbs out of the Tarauarau Valley this morning.

(Our first wild camp since just north of the Mexican border, we were awoken by a truck pulling up alongside the tent at 05:30 and politely enquiring through the ripstop if we minded them shooting the deer on the hill up above us. We said no, as long as they missed our tent. They drove off, and that was that.)