Tongariro Christmas morning dawned cloudy, windy, and definitely rainy. All our fears of a tropical Christmas with 80F degree days were eased as it looked to be a typical Pacific Northwest Christmas, though without the lights, trees, and family. Perhaps this was the most difficult part of our entire trip. Although I grew up without the presence of a million relatives, Amy didn't. She was used to grandparents and cousins as well as parents and felt completely at a loss Christmas morning. Luckily, I had a trick up my sleeve, but more about that later. First, we headed next door to play Santa with Kitty and Paul. We'd been entrusted with a bundle of gifts for them from folks back home, mostly stuff you can't get abroad. Things like People magazine and Pez. We brought them a packet of pictures from a Christmas party. In return we got hats and soaps. Every year Amy watches "White Christmas" at least a couple of times. This would be the first time she didn't get to see it made all the worse by the fact that when she called her family they were in the middle of the show. Happily, I had arranged for a surprise screening of "White Christmas" in the Grand Chateau's in-house cinema. Not even Katherine knew what was planned at 4:30, Christmas day, but apparently the tour group from beyond the grave did as they were just finishing when we walked downstairs. I ran upstairs in a near panic to ensure they were going to re-screen it and then back downstairs as the bluehairs wandered out. I had hoped to keep the title of the movie secret until it splashed onscreen, but oh well. Amy loved it and I think it really helped. We ran back upstairs and got set for dinner which was a buffet extravaganza including every possible food known to man and a few that we're still not sure of. Heck, they even had a Santa Clause made of ice. Several bottles of wine later (no, not Amy) we were in a great mood and sorry to feel there was little room left in our bellies. I fear I don't recall too much else about that evening, but Amy took good care of me so I didn't wake with any ill effects. We even set alarms in order to get up early for the much famed Tongariro Crossing. This 10 mile hike traverses the shoulder of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings movies), climbs Mt. Tongariro, then descends past the Emerald Lakes and out to the road. We collected breakfast and lunch and stopped in the ranger station to get maps. The ranger said something to the effect of "please, dear God, don't go up there!" Turns out there were 120kph winds and zero visibility. Nonsense! I'm a hard-core hiker guy, no problem. "We don't want to have to come rescue you, please don't go." Crap. We talked it over and decided they probably knew best and maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to go up there. Dang. DANG! This was our last chance to hike it and I was going to be denied. ARGH. Instead we headed up to Tama Lakes. About the same distance, but no "one of the best day-hikes in New Zealand," but still a chance to get out and see the country-side even if we couldn't see the mountains that were supposedly all around us. It's a good thing we didn't try the Crossing. Hiking to Tama Lakes was miserable enough. The wind blew non-stop and the rain lashed at us with a fury unlike I'd seen often. We got to the lower lake overlook and saw... nothing. Just a swirling fog. We made great time on the way back, hardly pausing at Taranaki Falls. Oh well. We finished the day with hot showers and hot chocolate by a hot fire. The next morning began with bright sunshine and nary a cloud to be seen. How unfair! A perfect day for the Crossing, but we were due to head north to the fishing lodge in Taupo. We took many pictures, drove up to the ski area (which they had just opened thanks to the new snow that hit us as rain the day before), and then bade the mountains farewell. I was sad. Farewell mountains, hello trout capital of the world.