Day 19: Ngunguru to Ocean Beach

By Elliot

Distance: 30km

I parted with my wool hat this morning. One of the other hikers was complaining about always being cold at night, so I offered her my hat in exchange for her much thinner one. At least my hand knitted hat found a cold head that needed it.

We started walking relatively late in the morning, at 9:30am. We had some tidal crossings, so if we got to the crossing too early, we would’ve had to wait as the water would’ve been too high.

We still made it there a bit too early, but I went to test the depth, in case it was crossable.

It wasn’t quite, but I thought that by the time I got back to shore, put my pack on and made another attempt, it would be shallow enough.

Unfortunately, I was wrong, and part of my underwear got wet (I was pantsless). Ruth had followed me into the water, and wasn’t happy with me for not waiting the ten minutes that would’ve kept our underpants dry.

When we made it to the other side, we had to walk through a mangrove grove, which included some deep, disgusting smelling mud. We took extra water with us to rinse off once we got through that section.

After several kilometres of road walking, we were back on sand, with the occasional water crossing. See the trail marker sticking out of the sand.

After another disgusting few minutes of mud, we were finished with all the tidal crossings.

After lunch, we started slowly climbing up a hill, and the crest had a beautiful view of the rest of our day’s walk on the beach, and tomorrow’s walk through the hilly peninsula at the end of the beach.

The sand on the beach was really soft, our feet sinking in with every step. After 7km of brutal beach walking, we made it to the end of our day.

We splurged on our accommodation tonight. We are staying at a bed and breakfast at the top of a hill (they came to pick us up at the beach). We have a private room, and they even have a hot tub and sauna. We arrived pretty late, so we only had time for one of the two. We chose hot tub.

Day 18: Whananaki to Ngunguru

By Ruth

Distance: 27km

The day started out in a monumental fashion: we crossed the longest footbridge in the southern hemisphere! I know you are all now itching to plan your trip to the beautiful town of Whananaki so you too can experience the wonder of crossing this bridge.

After the thrilling bridge crossing we walked about 8km on a gorgeous trail along the coast. We passed through rolling green hills overlooking rocky shores and sandy coves.

At the end of the trail we arrived at Sandy Bay, a beach where we saw a surf lesson taking place. It was a beautiful spot for a rest and a snack.

After Sandy Bay, the rest of the day’s walking was a bit of a letdown. It was all on roads, mostly paved, and after a few hours we both had really sore feet. It was a relief when we got into town, where we did a resupply for the next few days of walking and caught a boat ride over to Nikau Bay where we are camping tonight. Also this afternoon we were rejoined by Diana, the German girl who was with us on the night of the infamous possum attack. Nice to see a familiar face again on the trail.

The campsite where we are staying tonight is very cool. It is a rustic style but is really homey and nice. And the showers are amazing!

Day 17: Camp 306 to Whananaki

By Elliot

Distance: 22km

This morning we were grumbling as we packed the tent away because it started raining, even though there was no rain in the forecast. But the rain abated quickly, and we were treated to a rainbow 15 minutes into the day.

So, in high spirits, we walked another two hours. Then we got a text message from Stephen, the commonwealth citizen that we’ve been on the same schedule as, telling us to come to the community hall a kilometre away for tea and sweet treats.

We made it there and it was wonderful. About a dozen ladies from the surrounding farms had gathered for a crafting club meeting. They were embroidering, crocheting, knitting, spinning yarn and painting. Stephen knew we would love this, and didn’t want us to miss it. We spent half an hour having tea and snacking on homemade sweets, before deciding it was time to continue. They brought out the pavlova just as we were leaving. I’m sad we couldn’t stay for longer.

We walked for about an hour with Stephen before he went up ahead while we took a break. On the way, we found that us and our fellow wandering friends have our own traffic signs, like schoolchildren.

We eventually made it to the holiday park, which is a luxurious place to camp due to the hot showers and flush toilets. Not too luxurious though, as the hot showers were coin operated: 1 dollar for two minutes.

We spent the evening planning the next section and chatting to some other walkers. The next section is supposed to be really nice and we are really looking forward to it.

Day 16: The Farm to Camp 306

By Ruth

Distance: 25 km

After a luxurious breakfast at The Farm (our current breakfast is triple oatmeal packets with peanut butter), where we ate out of real bowls and drank tea from real mugs, we hit the road again. The distance we planned to walk today was quite manageable, so we weren’t in a hurry.

The first 19km of the day was road walking. Some parts were beautiful and scenic, some parts less so.

Although we were promised fine weather for the next week, around midday it started raining hard. After a few minutes of denial, we eventually stopped, got out our rain jackets, and put them on. Of course, just a few minutes after we started walking again, the rain stopped. An hour or so later, the same thing happened again!

Only ten minutes after the second rain squall, we arrived at the perfect lunch spot. Helena Bay is a tiny holiday community with a beach, just a few hundred meters off the trail. And they have picnic benches! So we stopped for a lunch break, congratulating ourselves on our timing: had we arrived just half an hour earlier we probably wouldn’t have stopped at all, because of the rain. However, just as we were finishing our first of two tortillas and cheese, a third rain squall began. We scrambled to finish making the second wraps so we could put everything away and not end up with soggy tortillas. Luckily, like the previous squalls, this one also only lasted fifteen minutes or so. Once it was over we ate a Hazelnut Slab to celebrate.

We took our time over lunch, knowing we only had six or seven more kilometres to get to camp. We knew they would be a little tougher because we would be going uphill, but weren’t too worried.

Once we got back on the trail though, we realized we may have underestimated the difficulty, because we left the road and started going into a dense forest. It was a tough but beautiful trail, and a real treat after so many hours of road walking earlier in the day. After a couple hours we emerged from the forest to a spectacular view of rolling countryside down to the ocean far below. A little bit more walking through some fields and we arrived at our camp for the night: Camp 306.

We call it Camp 306 because it’s at kilometre 306 of the trail. Which means we are 10% done the whole TA! I know 10% is not that much but I already feel like the trail is going so fast.

We got to camp with just the right amount of time to set up our tent, eat a good dinner (couscous with dried edamame snacks and pumpkin seeds, followed by tea and chocolate), and head to bed. Another successful day on the trail!

Day 15: Sheryl’s Place to The Farm

By Elliot

Distance: 20km

Given the shorter distance we needed to walk today, we started our day at a leisurely pace. This also gave our tent a chance to dry a bit: it was soaking wet from condensation and last night’s rain.

We said our goodbyes to Sheryl, and started walking. After several kilometres, we found ourselves in a forest.

While the day started with rolling hills, in the forest we hit a hill that refused to roll. It went up and up for 300m. We aren’t strangers to elevation gain, but this particular hill always seems like the crest was just around the corner.

We eventually made it to the other side, managed to spot a little bit of a view through the wall of trees on the side of the road, and left the forest.

A few kilometres later, we arrived at our campsite: The Farm. It has dorm rooms, some cabins, and places to pitch a tent. We pitched our tent.

The Farm seems to be WWOOF-ing Mecca. There must be about a dozen people who are here helping out from France, Quebec and Germany. Everyone was very friendly, and we had a fun evening.

But since we arrived early and it was sunny, I took the opportunity to do laundry and to try to get the salt stains from yesterdays kayak out of my shorts. It seems to have worked.

Below is me whipping my shorts, trying to get as much water out as possible before hanging it to dry, so that it would dry faster. I’m not wearing clothes because they are all drying. I ended spending the majority of the afternoon lounging around wearing a towel instead of pants, as a weak attempt at modesty.

Day 14: Paihia to Sheryl’s Place

By Ruth

Distance: 6 km (on foot) 16 km (by kayak)

After a real holiday rest day yesterday, today we set out by sea kayak on the next leg of our journey. It was a pretty “flash” (i.e. fancy) experience since we rented the kayaks from a place that came to collect them at the end of the paddle section and even ferried our big packs there as well!

The kayaking was really fun and relaxing. About halfway we stopped on a beach for a break and a snack. The end of the paddle was through some cool mangroves. Afterwards we walked about 2 km to Sheryl’s place, Sheryl being a lady who lets TA walkers camp on her rural property near the trail.

To get to her place we had to cross a decent-sized stream. Luckily, ever since Kerikeri we are the proud owners of crocs, which have been all kinds of wonderful. Today they let us cross the stream and keep our boots dry. Incredible.

Sheryl was out when we arrived so we set up our tents a little bit away from her house, in a field. But when she got home she asked us to move into her fenced-in yard because there are semi-wild horses and cattle in the area, and she was worried they might be running around scared and trample our tents – with tonight being Guy Fawkes night there will be a lot of firecrackers going off.

So we moved into her yard and she put the kettle on, showed us around her house which just recently got wired for electricity from her solar panels (she was pretty stoked about that) and we all had tea and chatted. There are six of us hikers camping here tonight.

Sheryl works part time as a tour guide in Russel, a historic town just across the bay from Paihia. She told us a bit about the history of the Maori and British settlement in the area, and also taught us some games using river stones. Elliot was very good at the games.

While we were eating supper the horses came by and it was lovely to see them running and grazing in the field.

Sheryl’s place is completely off-grid, there’s no cell reception at her house, and when it rains the stream can flood and she can’t even get out in her car. But she has chickens, vegetables and fruit trees, and makes her own salves and ointments from local herbs. It’s been a unique night’s camping here at Sheryl’s place.

Day 13: Rest day

By Elliot

Paihia is a great place for a rest day. It’s a resort town on a bay. We went out for coffee and lunch, resupplied our food provisions for the next few days, and dried our shoes and socks. They are now dry, which is a first in four or five days.

We actually got a ride into town from the campsite from a couple we met last night. They were a retired Canadian couple, living in Rossland, BC, which is a ski town. They were also Jews, originally from Montreal, so we connected and had a great conversation. They tried to convince us to move to Rossland. We are not quite convinced, but definitely want to visit.

Otherwise, last night I had the best sleep I’ve ever had in our tent. I think it’s because I’ve cracked the code for making a makeshift pillow. Here are the ingredients.

You need a fleece, a cotton t-shirt, a puffy jacket, and some kind of sack, in my case the sack that my sleeping bag packs into.

First you fold the fleece.

You want the zipper facing in, so that the surface that is closer to your face is smoother. Note that the hood stays out: tucking the hood into the fold would make for a lumpier finished product. I’ve made that mistake before, and won’t make it again.

Stuff the sweater into the sack.

Again, keep the hood out.

Now fold the puffy jacket, ensuring the zipper faces in, and stuff it in the sack. You will have a stack, with the fleece on the bottom, and the puffy jacket on top.

That would be the end of it. The fleece provides a good base, and the stuffed puffy mimics what a down pillow would feel like. The problem remaining is that the stuff sack is synthetic, not something you want to rest your head on all night.

Enter the t-shirt.

The soft cotton is perfect to rest your head on. Fold in all the loose ends and voilà, you have your pillow.

Good night!

Day 12: Kerikeri to Paihia

By Ruth

Distance: 27km

Waking up this morning at the hostel at Kerikeri was great. We had already stayed there the night before we began our trip, and this time felt a bit like coming home. They even gave us the same room! Throughout the uncertainties of the past couple weeks, the hostel in Kerikeri was always a warm light on the horizon to look forward to. When we walked out of there this morning it felt like only now had we truly begun our walk.

Speaking of walking out of there, we did it in the pouring rain. The forecast said to expect fairly heavy rain until about 11am, and then things would clear up and we’d have sun the rest of the day. We thought, “we’re tough enough to walk in the rain for 2 hours!” And naively set off.

The going was cold and wet. The rain came down in buckets. We were walking in an active logging forest, with clearcuts on both sides of the road. Which meant no shelter from the wind and pounding rain. It was misery, but I knew it would end soon. I would check my watch, each time counting down the minutes until 11, when it was promised to start clearing up.

11 came and went. The rain continued. 11:30. The rain intensified. 12. No end in sight. We were cold. We were hungry but there was nowhere to stop for a snack. We were tired but too cold to sit down and take a break. Eventually we huddled in the meager shelter of a small tree and miserably ate a granola bar.

The rain continued unabated until 1pm. Our 2 hours of walking in the rain had turned into 4 hours of trudging through a downpour. The worst part was not knowing when it would end. When the rain finally stopped, so did we. We took a long lunch break at a nice view point, and laid out all our wet clothing to dry in the sun.

As you can imagine, the day took a dramatic turn for the better once the sun came out. We walked the last couple hours in high spirits and arrived in the beach town of Paihia in time to have a coffee and enjoy the sunshine.

A bit of a rollercoaster of a day but at least it ended on a high note.

Day 11: Puketi hut to Kerikeri

By Elliot

Distance: 26km

Today, we walked. First we were on a gravel road, then farmland, some more road, more farmland, then a path along a river, and then we were there.

We saw signs that were applicable to us.

Had some pretty nice views.

Saw a waterfall or two.

And when we got into town, we had a smoothie.

But what I really want to talk about was our night at Blackbridge camp, two nights ago.

We’ve previously mentioned hearing about a possum problem, and reading about possums. But up until two nights ago, it was all purely academic.

It was the middle of the night and we were asleep. I’m not a very deep sleeper, so I hear rustling on Ruth’s side of the tent. I look over, and there’s a possum, climbing all over Ruth’s bag, which was inside the vestibule. I didn’t want to wake the other people at the campsite, so I whispered-yelled, “pishta!”. The possum wasn’t easily frightened. I hit the side of the tent, trying to intimidate it. It was non-plussed.

Eventually, I managed to get it to go away. Not two minutes later, it pops up in the vestibule on my side! Now I start the whole intimidation game from zero. I decided I was going to shine my flashlight directly in its eyes, thinking that that would frighten it off. I turned on the flashlight, and blinded it with a powerful white light. Maybe in different lighting the possum would have looked cute, but 2am white light from a flashlight made it look feral. But it was not bothered by the flashlight. So I kept moving and whispering at it. Eventually it went away.

When it came back later that night, I decided to take a more laissez faire approach. Unless it was actively trying to get into my bag, I would let it crawl around. That seemed to be what I should have done to begin with, because it got bored quickly and left. So I guess I can now proudly say I’ve outwitted a possum.

Day 10: Blackbridge Camp to Puketi Forest Hut

By Ruth

Distance: 20km

This morning we were greeted with a strange sight – blue skies! Last night we had gone to bed with some uncertainty about our plan for today. The ideal option would be to continue down to the gorge and walk through the river, then back up a ridge to the hut, where we had booked a bunk for the night. However, when it has rained heavily (as it did a couple days ago), the river in the gorge can swell and be unsafe to walk in. In that case there is a bypass you can take but it would have meant a 33km day for us to get to the hut. With a mixed bag of signals (clear weather, but a higher than desirable stream that we crossed yesterday afternoon) we weren’t sure what to do. This morning, one member of our group got up before all of us and walked back a kilometre or so, to check the level of that stream. His report, delivered over breakfast and including video evidence, was that the stream had gone down significantly since yesterday afternoon, and was moving much slower as well. We thought about it, and decided to take a chance and go the gorge route. The risk was that if the river level was too high, we may have to turn around and camp back at the same site.

So it was with excitement and a bit of trepidation that we set out down to the gorge. We were walking with a fellow walker we met in Kaitaia, Stephen, who had read and heard a lot about the gorge section and was really excited to be going. His good cheer and energy even rubbed off on us a bit! We arrived at the river and it seemed reasonable. With shoal banks on alternate sides, we were able to walk down the river, crossing from side to side through knee-deep water. It was a beautiful sunny day, the water felt really nice, and the gorge was stunning. There were a few moments where the river started looking really deep, and each time I thought to myself “Now is when we’ll have to turn back”, but thankfully there was always a way through. It was slow going though – the first 4km of the day took us 3 hours!

After the river, we climbed up a muddy bank, and continued walking on a path along the side of a different river. This path was super muddy, and went up and down a million times as it followed the river’s course. It was exhausting. Finally we reached the end, and to celebrate we had a long lunch on the river bank and even went for a dip. Heaven!

Next came the uphill. We left the river behind and began climbing a forested ridge. This section is where we saw some Kauri trees, which are a special type of tree found only in NZ, and which are endangered due to a disease which can be carried on tiny amounts of soil. They take it really seriously here and have special boot-cleaning stations at the entries to the forest, to disinfect everything and avoid spreading the disease. Anyway, the trees were super big and majestic and it was cool to see them finally after hearing so much about them.

After the climb we had a few more kilometres to walk along a pleasant forest road, and we arrived at the hut where we will be spending the night. With electricity, a gas stove, bunk beds, and a cold shower, it feels like a luxury retreat.

It was a long and challenging day but also so fun and rewarding. The days that start with more unknowns are turning out to be the ones that end with the best sense of accomplishment.

Day 9: Broadwood to Blackbridge camp

By Elliot

Distance: 27km

It's interesting how your definition of luxury can change depending on your situation. Last night we set up our tent on the clubhouse veranda, under a roof. it was such a sweet luxury to hear a violent storm hitting the clubhouse roof, while our tent stayed completely dry. And we didn't have to put away a wet tent, which is not fun.

After a leisurely breakfast, we tried hitching the 20km to Mangamuka. There weren't many cars going by. In the end, we got a hitch from an older lady who was a teacher and beef farmer who had been living in the region for the last 40 years. But she could only give us a ride for the first 11km. So we walked the remaining 9km.

In Mangamuka, which is a town with about 4 buildings, there was a shop where we got some fries to go along with lunch. We also tried a New Zealand classic soft drink: L&P. It tasted like Sprite.

After lunch, we continued walking. The path in the morning took us next to farms with cows, the most beautiful green grass I've ever seen, and small streams that snaked through the landscape. The afternoon started with the same landscape, but at a certain point turned into a gravel road walled in on both sides by trees.

And that road took us all the way to our campsite, which we are sharing with a German girl, an American couple, and the man from yesterday whose origin would be best described as Commonwealth. It was a social evening: I think we are being more social in the depths of the forests of Northern New Zealand than we were back in Vancouver.

Day 8: Kaitaia to Broadwood

By Ruth

Distance: 28 km

It feels great to be on the move! We did not have the most ideal weather today, as yesterday’s rainstorm hasn’t quite passed through all the way yet, but it was great to be walking, even in the rain.

After leaving the hostel, we walked 15 minutes to the other side of town, and caught a hitch 5 minutes up the highway to where our walk for the day got started, on a gravel road through farmland. We could see some forested hills in the distance.

We walked along rural roads for about 15km before I started getting very hungry for lunch. The problem was it was raining on and off, but when it was raining on, it was raining hard. And around lunchtime was one of those times. Just as I was despairing to ever find a dry place to sit and make a wrap, we came across the Krishna Sanctuary, which is the home of a couple of trail angels who offer hot cooked lunch for hikers along this section. We couldn’t get the cooked lunch because we would have had to let them know ahead of time that we were coming, but we figured we might just be able to get a dry spot to sit and eat our wraps. And luckily we were right! We got a nice dry table and chairs on their back porch to eat and dry off a little bit.

Almost immediately after we left the Krishna Sanctuary we started leaving farmland behind in favour of the forest. This was my favourite part of the day. It felt like we were in a jungle as we started climbing up a ridge with the rain coming down, birds chirping loudly all around, and lots of dense vegetation.

As we were coming down the other side of the ridge I started to get nervous, because I knew it meant we were getting close to the river crossing. If the river was too high to cross, we would have to climb back up and over the ridge to a campsite we had already passed, and try again tomorrow.

We arrived at the stream crossing, and it was a lot higher than we’d seen in pictures.

Fearlessly, Elliot hiked up his shorts as high as they would go. He began to wade across. He made it over, shorts dry, with an inch to spare. Next I followed his path, and just about managed to stay dry as well, other than my boots. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we both only have one pair of shoes with us on this trip. So that’s what we wore to get across. We were hiking with another gentlemen who removed his pants entirely, changed into his water shoes, and made it safely across as well. We felt a great sense of relief and accomplishment on the other side.

After that, it was smooth sailing into town. The campground here is next to the rugby pitch and we are using the covered area next to the old clubhouse to set up our tents. The rain started coming down even harder after we arrived so we are very happy to have the extra protection, as well as somewhere dry to sit and eat dinner.

It was a pretty big distance day but with the changing scenery and river crossing excitement, it all went by really quickly. Excited for another day of adventure tomorrow! Maybe my feet will even be dry for some of it.

Day 7: Rest Day

By Elliot

Another day at the hostel in Kaitaia. Another day of doing nothing, waiting to leave.

There’s a hill that looks like the Microsoft XP background that we can see from the window above our bed, just over a fence. It’s also visible from the town shopping street. I’ve been looking at that hill everyday, with its smooth grassy green making me question reality more and more.

What else is there to do, other than stare at the Microsoft hill? Yesterday we did laundry.

There’s always laundry to be done, and I often find myself wearing clothes I’d worn the previous day.

I have one shirt, one pair of pants, two pairs of socks and three pairs of underwear.

I also have a fleece, a puffy jacket, a rain jacket and a merino thermal top and bottom to round out my wardrobe.

Basically, all my clothes could always benefit from a wash, weather permitting (and with the current rain, it’s not permitting). At least most of my clothes are wool, so they don’t smell too bad.

You might not see a post for a few days. Not sure if we will have internet. But we will try to post if we do.

Day 6: Rest day

By Ruth

Today was our second of three planned rest days here in Kaitaia. I somehow managed even better sleep than the first night, getting in over 10 hours straight! I’ve always been a bit of a champion sleeper (not to brag), but this was impressive even for me.

This morning we got some information about a stream crossing that we will have to do on our first day out of here. Given that they are expecting this big rain/windstorm tomorrow, it is likely the stream will be flooded and difficult to cross. This was starting to get absurd. We considered changing our plans yet again, but I was really getting fed up with trying to optimize. Already we are staying an extra two nights to avoid a storm, a decision which has led to the possibility of this river crossing being less doable (if we had left yesterday morning like originally planned, the stream would have been fine to cross since there hasn’t been a ton of rain recently). I didn’t want to make another modification to the plan only for that to have some other knock-on effect we weren’t expecting! Also, I am getting antsy – patience is one of my, shall we say, “areas for improvement”.

So we are sticking with our plan to leave Monday morning, but we are bringing an extra day of food. That way, if we get to the stream and it’s not safe to cross, we can camp out Monday night on this side of the stream and wait for it to go back down. This way we will get to start moving on Monday, which I am stoked for, even if we only get 15km down the road.

Other than that decision-making drama, the day was pretty uneventful. We wandered into town to go to the Kaitaia Saturday Market, but it was sort of closing down already by the time we got there, so not too much to see for us.

Later in the day we headed back to the Pak’n’Save, our favourite haunt in town. This was our third visit in three days!

The first day we went around 5:30 and it was packed. This made sense, we reasoned, as people stop off to pick up groceries after work. The next day we decided to go earlier, to try beat the crowds. But at 11:30 am on a weekday, it was somehow even busier! Needless to say today was bustling too. It seems that we aren’t the only ones who just can’t stay away from this shop.

The people who work there are very friendly, or maybe just talkative. One lady in the produce section was sorting through the green grapes and took the opportunity to complain to us about their quality as we walked by.

“Who would put this out?” she asked us, waving a sad bunch of grapes in our direction, “they’re all watery! I’m going to chuck them out. No one’s going to buy them.”

We made some noises of agreement as we tried to get past.

Later, at the check out, the lady tried to start up a conversation about the dried soybeans we were buying for one of our dinners on the trail.

“I’ve never seen these before! What are they like?”, she asked me.

“Um, I don’t know, I’ve never had them either”, I replied.

She didn’t seem to understand, maybe my Canadian accent was too strong. “Probably taste just like potato chips, I imagine,” she reassured herself, though I can’t figure out why she thinks that.

In just a few days we’ll be camping out in the rain, eating our dried soybeans, and maybe then I’ll understand what she meant, and I’ll start pining for Kaitaia and its grocery store full of strange but friendly people.

Day 5: Rest day

By Elliot

We slept in a bed for the first time in several days. Needless to say, we slept well.

This morning we tried to find some light flip flops or crocs. As much as we want to have as light a pack a possible, we’ve looked on in envy at people with camp shoes, strutting around and airing their feet after a hard days hike. It would also be nice to have footwear to wear in communal showers in hostels and at holiday parks.

We first tried a store called Farmers, with no success. They pointed us at a Rip Curl, but their flip flops are quite hefty. We tried the pharmacy and the dollar store. We checked the whole of Commerce Drive, but our mission ended in failure.

What else did we do today? Some active recovery with a Nalgene.

Note the pile of clothes on the bed. There’s a second bed in our room, but basically no closet space, a single hanger, and no good chair for hanging stuff. So our gear has its own bed.

We also spent the morning trying to decipher the next section of trail, how many days it will take us and how much food we need to pack.

Unfortunately, there’s a big storm hitting here on Sunday. So after thinking about it for too long, and briefly considering hiking through a storm, we’ve decided that we will be staying put at our current hostel until Monday. Not sure what we will do until then other than read, and maybe visit the library/museum they have in town which is apparently an attraction.

Day 4: Ngapae Holiday Park to Kaitaia

Distance: 14km

By Ruth

Today we had our most leisurely day yet, in terms of walking. Knowing this, we took it easy in the morning and didn’t rush to leave camp. As I am still on the mend from my little cold, I was very happy to have been able to sleep in until 6:30 this morning! We indulged in breakfast, tea, some chatting, and then eventually we were back on the beach, for the last time. As much as we suffered for parts of it, and it was pretty boring by the end, we were both feeling a bit nostalgic about our beach days coming to a close. I took some extra time to admire the seashells and other treasures that had washed ashore.

We even had a picnic lunch on the beach, despite being only 20 minutes away from a cafe with real food, in Ahipara.

From Ahipara we hitchhiked into Kaitaia with a couple of fishermen who dropped us right at the hostel. Even these guys knew how bad the beach is for causing blisters because one of them had apparently picked up multiple hikers on the beach itself who hitched a ride due to their blister pain!

Now we are at the hostel and the rest of the day we have been trying to figure out what we are going to do next. The next section of trail is currently not recommended to walk. There is a bypass route that we would take instead, but it involves a couple long distance days, and there is some heavy rain in the forecast over the next few days. So we need to decide what we want to do to avoid the possible sufferfest that that spells.

Whatever we decide, tomorrow is a rest day for us, so we have some time to think it over.

Day 3: Hukatere Lodge to Ngapae Holiday Park

By Elliot

Distance: 17km

We got up this morning much more relaxed than yesterday. The place we were staying at had a little kitchen with gas stovetops and kettles, so we didn’t need to use our camping stove to cook breakfast. We luxuriated and even had tea with breakfast! We even used real mugs instead of our camping mugs!

We set out at 8:30am and the walking was much the same as yesterday.

What was great both today and yesterday is that we’ve been lucky to have the wind at our backs the entire time, giving us a boost.

Today we had no rain, Ruth was feeling much better and we made it to camp with plenty of energy to spare. I had some blister pain by the end of the day. When I checked my feet at the end of the day, they looked like they had some weird growths on them. I’ll spare you the picture.

The holiday camp we are staying at is several hundred meters from the beach along a road, which looked like it belonged on a kibbutz.

When we made it to camp, we went to set up our tent and saw a familiar flag flying across the way.

At first we thought it must be Israelis. I feel like you can find Israelis in all four corners of the world, so it wasn’t too surprising. But when I went to ask about the flag, it was not an Israeli: it was a local lady, born and raised. She put up the flag this morning, in support of Israel in its war against Hamas. When you read certain news sources it can sometimes feel like popular opinion is against Israel. But this was a nice reminder that there are people all over the world who care about and support Israel, even those with no direct ties to the country.

Day 2: Manganui Bluff to Hukatere Lodge

By Elliot

Distance: 30km

When we woke up this morning, our tent was covered in condensation. It’s not fun to pack up a wet tent, but we had little choice.

Neither of us being particularly hungry, we had some oatmeal for breakfast, and then set off.

We walked on the beach for 30km. It was monotony punctuated by the occasional pick up truck speeding by right by the water. For an idea of what it looked like most of the day, see Ruth walking.

We stopped after about 2 hours for a snack. A little after that, both of us were feeling nauseous, Ruth more so than me. But we had to keep walking.

At some point it started raining, first lightly, then with increasing intensity.

In brief, it was windy, it was rainy, and Ruth was feeling ill and couldn’t stomach eating anything. I spent a large part of the day questioning the choices I made that led to me walking down a long stretch of beach in the rain with a heavy pack. I know that I wanted to experience something other than the comfortable existence I live back home, but couldn’t the trail ease me into it? Eventually the sun came out, Ruth felt better, our spirits rose, and we made it to camp.

The campsite has flush toilets and hot showers, which were a much needed after our long day of walking. And it’s a gorgeous place to watch the sunset.

One thing of note is that almost all the hikers at this point have blisters, some quite bad. It was both painful and pretty funny watching watching everyone waddle around camp, not being able to walk properly.

Tomorrow is a much shorter day, so we’re hoping to use that to recover from the big two days we just did.

Day 1: Te Paki Stream to Manganui Bluff

Distance: 25 km

By Ruth

At last, we are on the trail! This morning we woke up early to get a ride with our hostel host up to Cape Reinga to start the walk, along with five other walkers. The drive up was a bit tense for Elliot as his anxiety was acting up, but we enjoyed the bucolic scenery as best we could. We first stopped at the Cape Reinga lighthouse, which is the northernmost tip of NZ. Normally the TA starts from there but unfortunately the first section is closed due to storms that happened over the winter and eroded the trail. Nevertheless we got our pictures, and then hopped back in the van to drive to our starting point, about 20 km south of the lighthouse.

And then, we were on our way! It felt like a relief after all the buildup. The trailhead where we started was called Te Paki Stream, and we very quickly found out why: not only is there a stream there leading to the ocean, there is in fact only a stream, i.e. no trail. So we were walking in ankle-deep water for the first 45 minutes. I had just enough waterproofing and height to my boots to keep my feet almost entirely dry, which I was surprised by – in a good way obviously! Most people wear trail runners which offer no such protection and lead to soaked feet almost immediately. On the other hand, if the water had been only an inch or two higher, water would have poured into my boots and I would be equally as soaked – without the benefit of lightweight shoes which dry out quicker. So it was really just lucky things turned out so well for me today.

After the stream, we reached the beach, turned left and started walking. As much as it is great to finally be on the trail, and we had perfect weather, it was a very long day and the beach did start to feel a bit monotonous by the end. It was a great feeling to arrive at camp where they have running water and even a cold shower! Now we are happily ensconced in bed and ready for a well-deserved rest.

Tomorrow is another long day, but that’s something to worry about tomorrow.

Bus up to Kerikeri

We got up early this morning to take the bus North to Kerikeri. We are now at the hikers hostel: a single story building with a series of rooms that open onto an open area, motel-style, but with trees and flowers. Tomorrow we set off on another three hour shuttle ride, and then we start walking.

We should be back in Kerikeri in 9-10 days, as the trail passes right through here. This means that the hostel has quite a few people who are in the middle of the trail.

So what kinds of people hike this trail? So far I’ve met Germans, Dutch, and Canadians. I’ve overheard other hikers speaking French, and know that some of the people we are driving up with tomorrow are Kiwis. So some local, many international. I’m not good at guessing age, but I think everyone I’ve met is between the ages of 20 and 70. Profession-wise I’ve met a software engineer, a government worker and a river skipper from a family of river skippers.

Overall, no pattern has emerged.

This evening we cooked our own meal in the hostel kitchen. After several days of eating out, and with several days of eating backpackers food to look forward to, it was nice to get a meal with an overwhelming quantity of vegetables. Just like home.