Legs and Borders

"I am not the type who wants to go to the land - I am the type who wants to go back to the hotel. This state of affairs is at least partially due to the fact that nature and I have so little in common. We don't go to the same restaurants, laugh at the same jokes or, most significant, see the same people" Fran Lebowitz  Trail went to the backcountry today as it so often does while hiking. I packed up before 6am, tent was surprisingly dry which was great as the backpack loaded with food was already heavy. Gravel roads was the name of the game, I got one very short but hilarious hitchhike right in the morning with Trish, a relief driver for NZ Post. She packed me at the back of her van after rearranging all the packages she was delivering. We had a brief conversation about efficiency of the post in New Zealand and I was back on the road. Soon after, I walked next to the farm were someone was keeping a single ostrich on a cows field, it started to foll...

A near zero day, I've only walked 10 miles to town and called it a day. There was a lot of chores I had to do, mainly charge up the phone, wash the clothes and have a shower. Taumarunui seemed like a perfect spot as it had a 'hiker heaven' a canoe renting place which allowed people to camp for free even if they didn't book anything with them (there's a canoe section incoming, but I decided to skip it for the time and money saving reasons). Morning was quite foggy which made for a few interesting pictures. I arrived at Taumarunui before 11am, had a Maccas, resupplied in New World and started walking towards canoe hire campground which was few miles out of town, I got stopped by Gavin a local builder who offered me a ride there. After arriving at the campsite I had a quick nosey around, picked up a funky Hawaiian shirt and a cycling leggings someone left behind and put them on, all my stuff was going to the wash. I put t...

Day two of walking along the Timber Trail. Today the path was mostly flat as it followed the route of the timber railway, there was a lot of rusting tracks and wheels scattered by the trail quite ab atmospheric detail. A couple of suspension bridges linked the path and it was a joy to bounce up and down while walking through them. This section was as immaculately maintained as the one yesterday. I set off early, the main bulk of cyclist caught up with me around 11am, everybody was going to the end of the trail 45km ahead. I didn't encounter anything worth mentioning during the walk other than perhaps two tiny wild pigs, I doubt they were of the 'micro' type, I was glancing around checking if their mother wasn't about to charge me. Both piglets vanished into the forest once I got too close. There was a lot of great information on the boards standing along the track, here are few about vermin control, hunting and...