Legs and Borders

Two rest days spend in Wellington over Christmas and Boxing Day, I've tried to use the time somewhat efficiently. On Christmas Day in the morning I called my relatives with wishes, it was still Christmas Eve in Europe. Then I left the hostel and went to check the path to the ferry. Employee at the backpackers told me that I will have to take a taxi there because of the roadworks in the area. It turned out to be partially true, building works were going on but the bypass for walkers has been made to access the ferry. After that I've climbed Victoria Hill on the coast of Wellington, it had an observation point and was teeming with tourists. I took few snaps of the city and found a bench in the quiet spot on the remote side of the hill where I've cracked open a bottle of wine and chilled for a bit. One hour later I made my way back to the hostel along the coast. Here I've watched Home Alone with other ...

6:30 in the morning. I'm sitting outside The Perching Parrot in Paekakariki eating croque monsieur. Stray dog is wandering the street, sparrows are landing on the table hunting for breadcrumbs. It's raining. I'm waiting for Patsy whom I met half an hour ago standing by the beach holding a colourful umbrella, wandering if she should have a swim or not. There's too many dolphins in the sea this morning so the swim will have to wait. Patsy promised to come over and give me a lift through the next road section towards Wellington. She is the first person I've met today. Barrister comes out with my latte and informs me that the dog belongs to the dairy next door but it wanders around town every morning and that I shouldn't worry about it. Patsy comes earlier than expected buys me a tea and a coffee for herself. We sit outside and talk about her Irish heritage and how she lived in Paekakariki for 30 years with her partner. They decided to buy and live in double decker ...

"Kiwi's have eccentricity of Australians and the manners of old England" Will Out of the mountains and into the beach, last stretch of the North Island, it looks like I will be able to dock in Wellington for Christmas after all. It feels nostalgic already, even though I didn't like hiking North Island that much. It had a lot of road walking, traversing farmlands and overgrown bushes. But what I really enjoyed was interactions with people. Kiwi's have this quirky, warm and little bit childish charm to them. They are relaxed and open to interactions with smelly backpackers. It's definitely something I will miss while hiking on much more remote South Island. In the morning I said goodbye to Tararua Range by climbing over Pukeatua peak. It took five hours to arrive on the other side of the mountain where I started the road walk towards the town of Waikanae. About half way through I saw a car about to leave from one of the houses and I asked for a lift to town. Man...

Today was more of an obstacle course than a trail. Sliding on or trying to manoeuvre around mud in long grass, hanging for dear life to tree branches on downhill sections, scrambling up and down exposed rock ridges, using tree roots as ladders to climb and descend, rock hopping river crossings, no water for the first half of the day, all the water during second, you name it! It was still fun and memorable day. Tararua's proved that they mean business, it was definitely the most challenging section on Te Araroa so far. In the morning I've hiked to Nichols Hut, topped up my water (which at this elevation was rain water collected in the huts tank) and had a breakfast consisting of Gruyère cheese, dry dates and tortilla. I managed to meet the last person leaving the hut, he said that it was 11 people sleeping here yesterday.  If you look closely you can see Nichols Hut on the next picture. From here, trail climbed to 1462m...

"There are always a few people who are in the woods at night, in the rain (because if there were not the world would have ended) an I am one of them". Merton Another grindy day in Tararua Range, it looks like I will be arriving in Wellington later than I thought but luckily it's not a big deal. First thing in the morning I had the funniest encounter for a long time. I saw two teenagers walking on the wrong side of the fence alongside the trail. I assumed they were farmers children checking something. They eventually joined the trail and stopped by the river crossing. When I was walking past them they asked me if I knew how to get to Mangaore mountain, I checked it on my GPS but there was no trail leading up there, perhaps they could find other way if they returned to the carpark and went around. They nodded and joyfully went back. When I joined them at the car park, it turned out that Amelia and Jericho as that were their names, were both partying ...

"This campsite needs a name or it's going to end as Toilet Camp" Clei One month in the trail! I've went pass Te Araroa's half way point. It was a grindy day, Tararua's showed what they are made of. I was planning for a big day and many miles. Altitude wasn't looking too bad it was a lot of climbing but nothing too steep. The only thing I didn't take into consideration was mud and stream crossings. Big mistake, and so my finish line was cut back, twice. First couple of miles went really well, trail climbed up and went past a cool looking and well maintained hut. Here I met Clei from France, she couldn't speak much English but we managed to communicate quite well. We both knew that the trail from here will be full of mud which will progressively get worse throughout the day. Clei went first, I finished eating breakfast and followed. At first trail wasn't too demanding but there was a lot...