Hello everyone, we have some updates for you on the teams progress. They have already covered a lot of ground since meeting together in Auckland; Day 1 being the successful ascent of Mount Ruapehu – (Tahurangi). At 2797m , this New Zealand’s North Islands highest mountain and one of the world’s most active volcanos and it is the largest active volcano in New Zealand. The latest information from `The Axe’ follows:

`Basically, the climb of Ruapehu yesterday was much tougher than we thought. It was a clear day but very windy up top, with estimated wind chill -5 to – 10. The summit ridge requires an exposed traverse to gain, and this was hard ice. Rob Mills was wearing crampons and axe for the first time and did extremely well to get past this section. We roped up here for safety, Alan also had some problems with his instep crampons which here not suited to hard icy traverses. So it was a slow last 50m to gain the summit as he and Jim were forced to cut steps all the way, resorting to old style climbing! We reached the summit at 1pm exactly, I sent a spot messenger OK message to prove we hit the summit.  On the summit it was so cold my camera froze however I managed two quick photos with Alan and with Rob Mills and the NZ Fire Service flag. We donated 1000 dollars on the summit to the Toko and Stratford Fire Departments. Both who were involved in Debra’s rescue last year.

Mount Ruapehu, Crater Lake behind. Very Windy and cold.

We reached the comfort of the hut 10.5 hours later at 1730hrs. We are all a little tired, sunburnt with sore feet.  Jack Rawlinson had cooked a very nice meal of corned beef, potatoes, brocolli and carrots. We were all in bed by 9pm.

After a great breakfast, today we will cycle 60km to Taumaranui, stock up with 5 days food, then begin our paddle this afternoon down the Whanganui river. This has very steep gorges, so I am unsure if the spot tracker will work.

Thanks to Rob Mills, Jack Rawlinson, Jim Morrow and Ngaire Rawlinson for the support for the Ruapehu segment. Thanks also to the Wonderful hospitality in the Auckland Tramping Club lodge at Whakapa where we spent the last two nights.’

Bacon, eggs and sausages for breakfast this morning on Day 2 of Peak To Peak. Courtesy of Jim the legend Morrow.

We can see the guys are making excellent progress and are already well down river on Day 2. The weather is looking good for a few more days yet with a large high over the whole country, protected by a few stationary fronts. Its is hoped only smooth sailing is encountered by the divorce machine with reasonable flow only!!

To locate their exact position please click on the links:

Message: Axe reporting all ok from ‘Peak to Peak 2013’.See our position at: http://bit.ly/1bbBiVb

 Click the link below to see where I am located.

 http://fms.ws/Eo1qy/38.99158S/175.12001E

 If the above link does not work, try this link:

 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-38.99158,175.12001&ll=-38.99158,175.12001&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1