Human Pinball

We're like 2 metal balls in a pinball machine.  We'll be flung into play and start rolling along quickly up and down wide gravel forest roads when we'll suddenly see an orange marker.  We'll then be sucked into a hole and up a ramp that is steep and hard to see with roots and rocks under foot, sharp, spiky plants covering the path in front of us and branches hanging over head.  So much so that our eyes will be darting from floor to over our heads to try and avoid all the forest has to throw at us.  We'll slowly roll along at a snails pace for 2, 3 maybe 4 hours or more, dodging and stepping steadily, using all our energy through concentration.  We'll be trudging up hill, in the dark of the canopy, steeply, leg muscles aching, shoulders feeling the weight of the backpack, trying to avoid spiky, painful plants while trying also not to slip or trip, muscles tired, then suddenly, the forest pinball flippers will spit us out at the top of the sleep ascent to a bright, sunny, grassy green meadow or rolling hill with so much space around you and a view like you've never seen before.  You'll suddenly feel free and your pack will be light and you can see the pathway laid out in front of you over the hundred gentle sloping hills of the New Zealand countryside covered in daises and other wild flower and maybe even the distant ocean view.  We'll roll quickly down the hill ready for the next game of pinball to begin.

Kerrikerri - Waipu

It's been 10 days of ups and downs, literally and mentally.  We set off from Kerikeri after a sad goodbye to Inge from Ora Ora Resort.  I was very inspired by the resort and overwhelmed by how lovely everybody was there, that it felt incredibly sad to say our goodbyes.  We gave ourselves an easy target of Paihia, just roughly 6 hours walk away and strolled along chatting at a steady pace.  The road walking followed by forest roads was perfect for the day following a rest day, as it woke us up gently.  Our bags were loaded up with 10 days worth of food so that we could go right through to Waipu and my bum and hips were feeling the new weight.  Especially with a bit of extra food thrown in there now that I have realised our original diet wasn't enough.  We were familiar with Paihia as we'd stayed there before we began the trek so we checked into the peaceful campsite on the river and had a relaxed night.

Sunrise in Paihia

I woke up the next morning feeling absolutely shattered.  I hadn't been sleeping well since the trek began and when the alarm went off I had a feeling of dread that I was required to actually move.  We set off at the normal time and it was THE most beautiful sunrise.  It has been firework night the previous nights and there was the lovely smell of smoldering bonfires as we walked along the beach.  Despite this picturesque morning, I was feeling very negative and everything seemed to be hard work.  The coastal walk from Paihia to Opua was beautiful and we walked along the cliff ridge, weaving in and out of tiny little private bays, envying the gorgeous houses with their prime locations.  We eventually arrived in the beautiful Opua and waited a few minutes for the ferry that would take us across for just $1.  Bargain!  When we reached the other side we followed a forest path that ran parallel with the road and the up hills were more of a struggle for me than ever before.  It wasn't until we were spat out onto the road pinball style that I realised a couldn't go on today.  My body literally crashed and burned due to the exhaustion of not sleeping and it was clear that we were going nowhere fast.  I felt emotional and weak and we made a decision to stop the day short.  The poor, patient Shalane walked with me to the nearest campsite where I crashed and slept all afternoon.  I woke for food before crashing again all night.  After discussing option of preventing this happening again, I now have an additional weight in my bag of a book, in the hopes that it helps me get off to sleep at nights.

We got up to face the day and try and make some good ground after a disappointing day the previous day.  We left Russel early and were soon walking in the Russel forest with a great variety of trail, starting with a gravel road again. While we were walking along a really nice lady pulled up to us and asked us if we wanted work for free accommodation and food.  She owned a small business and was looking for workers.  We explained that we were on bit of a mission and continued on our way.  The forest was a bit tricky after effortless road walking.  Our minds hadn't had to think about a single step on the road and all of a sudden we were having to watch our step and it took a while to adapt.  We stopped after 33 kms at a shelter in the middle of the hut.  We were tired but it felt good and we had some dinner while watching some playful, purple birds and listening to the water of the nearby stream.  It really is a relaxing sound after a long day and it felt good to be back on track.

Shalane letting off steam after a morning of climbing

Bamm!  Wake up, walk up!  We were climbing instantly in the morning.  As the track progressed there was cutty grass and prikly bushes taller than us and taking over the whole path.  We were cut and scratched all over as we pushed our way through, using all our weight and sometimes the path would disappear completely.  There were landslides and fallen down trees and at one point I climbed up over a huge fallen tree, onto a loose dirt (almost vertical) edge completely unconvinced we were on the right path.  Luckily our new maps and our sudden change of direction suggested we should push on, and that feeling when we saw the first sign in hours was unbeatable.  We reached our destination in Teal Bay, just past Helena Bay and Shalane found us a wicked camp spot that almost looked like it was built specially for us.  It was on the beach and private and we settled down for the night after a satisfying feed.

Waking up with the sound of the waves breaking on the shore made a wicked change.  After setting off, with a short stop at a river for water we were soon climbing with the most fantastic views.  The hills were never-ending  all around us.  We walked through the Morepark track forest  and the signs in this area were great.  Whangarei council have done a great job in this area and the whole section was brilliantly signed.  The trail consisted of forest, steep climbs and farmland and the buggers brought us right down to sea level before sending us all the way back up again!  It was a lazy ish day with a 40 minute break enjoying the sun but the blood was still pumping and walking along in the sunshine with everything that spring has to offer around us really did make me feel lucky.  We arrived at Whananaki and had the very pleasant surprise of a campsite being right on the trail.  We were expecting to walk another hour so this was a real treat.  The Whananaki North Holiday Park and they even gave us a Te Araroa discount and some eggs.  It's the 3rd lot of eggs we've been randomly given, a strange but accepted gift!  We  treated ourselves with a non freeze dried meal and felt very looked after.

The next day was great!  We walked 35 kms and had so much fun along the way.  We walked from Whananaki to Ngunguru and the trail was a mixture of coast, forest, gravel road, fields and just about anything you can imagine. Just when you were ready for a change of terrain you would get one and the sun was shining bright.  The coastal walk took us in and out of some very cute little bays with some very lucky home owners tucked away.  We got to Matapouri and met 2 young lads on horses (as you do).  We had a great chat with them and they were really nice and they offered for us to stay with them when we got to Ngunguru.  As we said goodbye and walked away we realised that we hadn't met many people our age along the way and it made a refreshing change.  We stopped off for a break at a massive Kauri tree before finally arriving in Ngunguru, only to find out that out of the 2 campsites they had in the small seaside town, non were in existence.  We called a local lady over to ask her about a campsite and after she explained there were non, she didn't hestiate to offer us a spot in her garden.  Wendy was on her way out but said she would call her husband and warn him, and sent us round.  She was so kind and didn't seem fazed by 2 girls she had known for 5 seconds sleeping in her garden.  She even left 2 big fluffy towels out for us to have a shower.

We woke up wondering where we were and set off on a horrid day of mostly road walking.  We had a few hours on the Makeral forest track with more fallen trees, spiky plants and hard to find markers before more road walking.  We came down towards the Horahora River, hoping to find a campspot but there was a whole lot of mangrove.  We finally found a good spot next to a river walking trail and collapsed for the night.  We were in need of a rest day but decided to push on one more day and reach Peach Cove Hut, which would mean an awesome rest day.

I woke up feeling determined but knowing that I had a bloody long day ahead of me.  The first couple of hours were just road walking which, although my pack was instantly uncomfortable, wasn't too bad.  A lady who was out for a run, while her son rode his bike walked and talked to us for a while and I was pleased to pick up an avocado from a driveway stand along the way.  all in all, it was a good morning.  We arrived at the estuary which we had to cross at low tide and luckily it was.  We walked along the edge until we found the spot that wast best to cross.  The bed of the estuary was very boggy and some stinky water remained in the middle so we took our boots off and began to walk across.  We started sinking up to our knees and the mud underneath was black. We slowly slodged our way across and our feet were scraping on shells and rocks right at the bottom.  I looked at the water and a one point thought it had risen but there was only one way to go and that was forward.  It was a long way across and it was not easy and we even wondered quite how far it was possible to sink.  We made it over with a sigh of relief and sat and had a well deserved break while we cleaned up.  Just as we were about to leave we looked back to an unrecognisable estuary full of water and had a nervous giggle at our close escape!  After the estuary we walked along a track to the beach and then walked along the beach for a couple of hours to a mountain and then climbed as steep as you can get for what seemed like forever!  We were both exhausted and we pushed and pushed to get to Peach Cover Hut.  We'd walked 35 Kms and were tired from the start and by this time our bodies were saying no and our minds were loosing the battle too.  I was so physically exhausted that I felt like crying, as my mind was pushing on but my muscles just couldn't do it and the frustration was immense.   I pushed on at a snails pace and we climbed down a heap of stairs before collapsing in a heap at the hut and I can 100% confirm that I pushed my body, in fact, my whole self on this day more than I ever have before and when we were done, it felt really good.

We couldn't have hoped for a better rest day.  We had running water, a long drop toilet and a private beach to ourselves!  We were up and on the beach at 7am and it was scorchio enough for sunbathing  by 8am.  We tried to get rid of our ridiculous tan lines for a few hours before lazing and eating and generally doing nothing by the hut.  It was just what we needed.  We were laying there dreaming of all our friends turning up with a load of food, maybe even a BBQ.  A little bit later, we heard voices in the bush and soon we were joined by 14 members of tramping club!  It wasn't quite our friends from home but they brought food :-)   I felt fully rested and ready to continue.

The next day started with 840 steps and a few mountains to climb and views to make your eyes water.  We had ocean on both sides and followed the mountain ridge all the way down.  After a bit of road walking and a stop off at the shop for some sneaky jelly beans, we got to the bay where we had to hitch a ride on a boat across to Marsden Point.  We not only got a lift across without having to wait too long but they chucked us a fresh crayfish for our dinner before speeding off back to sea.  They were good fun guys and we couldn't believe how easy it was to hitch a boat.  We chuckled to ourselves and walked down a beautiful white sand beach with turquoise sea before finding a gorgeous camp in the dunes where we cooked up our crayfish and enjoyed the afternoon sun.  The river we had to cross was in high tide so we decided to deal with it in the morning.

A short day the next day took us across the Ruakaka river into Waipu where we headed to Waipu Wonderers backpackers who kindly acted as a food drop location for us.  On arrival we bumped into Dirk, the Dutch guy we met on our first day of the trek and by pure coincidence, it happened to be our 1 month anniversary.  Steve and Elaine from the backpackers were great and their backpackers is a home from home.  Elaine drove us to a cheaper supermarket and they couldn't do enough for us.  They have fresh fruit trees in the garden that we were able to help ourselves and we thought we were in heaven after craving fresh fruit for days.  The backpackers is small and more like a homestay - A well recommended place to stay.

Me, Shalane and Dirk made us a feast of lasagne and garlic bread to celebrate and kicked back to enjoy the comforts of the hostel, feeling contently full and very happy.

We really have been overwhelmed by all the lovely people we've met along the way.  People just chatting in the street, farmers, boat owners, people offering us somewhere to stay and generally going out of their way to be very kind in a very effortless manner.  It really is a gorgeous country with lovely people and the trail gives us a real chance to mix with locals.  We are one month in and it just gets better.