Welcome to Mt Doom

Behold Mount Doom, or as it’s known locally, Mount Ngauruhoe. This, wreathed ominously in cloud, was the (still active) volcano used by Peter Jackson to stand in for Orodruin in The Return of the King.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of interaction with the local geology for the last few days.

Kathy was down with a cold yesterday, so I left her in the capable hands of Ann, the owner of the Big Bird B&B in Waitomo, and promptly dived underground.

First up was “blackwater rafting,” which is to say raf...