Twig Adventures

December 17th Green Bus camp (km394.5)-Dragon’s Spell (km434) Mileage: 24.5mi/39.5km Today we had to coordinate another boat ride across to Marsden Point, site of NZ’s only oil refinery and a large port that loads massive amounts of lumber onto ships for export. Just as we were leaving, Terry was coming down his driveway and offered us a ride 5km to the bay where we were meeting the boat. I needed to stick with the group and could tell they wanted to take the ride. Plus, Terry drives a truck just like mine, which here is called a Toyota Hilux. His is a lot newer but it looked pretty much the same on the inside, except that the wheel is on[…]

December 16th Taiharuru Estuary/Tidesong B&B (km371)-Green Bus camp (km394.5) Mileage: 14.6mi/23.5km As anticipated, breakfast with Ross and Hugh did not disappoint. We had to be scheduled at 7 am, since the other guests were due at 8, but I was ready even before that. There were fresh fruits from the garden, muesli, wheat bix, fresh-made yogurt, french-press coffee, bacon, sausage, poached egg on toast, and the most delicious scones I’d ever had. My hiker-hunger has come back so I ate it ALL. I almost never have a big breakfast but this hit the spot. I wasn’t hungry the rest of the day. As soon as we were done, Hugh took us across the river in his boat. He even provided[…]

December 15th Nikau Bay Camp(km342)-Taiharuru Estuary/Tidesong B&B (km371) Mileage: 18mi/29km Despite having great accommodations, I didn’t sleep very well all night. In settling into a real bed for the first time in weeks, I was thinking “ahh, this it it!” I was asleep almost immediately. But I woke again and couldn’t get back to sleep. Despite bug screens and a bed net, the mossies were getting in and buzzing me. There were so many! By the morning, I was missing my tent. This is of course no knock on Nikau Camp, as James has done his best. He invited me into his place for coffee and toast in the morning, another nice treat. He is a great conversationalist and host.[…]

December 14th Mountain top campsite on the Morepork track (km307)-Nikau Bay Camp(km342) Mileage: 21.8mi/35km I had a long day planned to get to the place I wanted to stay, plus needed to coordinate a boat ride across the estuary. And I was out of water. I paid for my dehydrated state with a headache. So I hit the trail at 6:20 am. Shorty I found a stream and was able to top up. Finishing the Morepork track required a lot of climbing and descending. Then it started to rain lightly, which was odd since the day seemed clear only an hour ago. In NZ, if you don’t like the weather you just have to wait a short while for it[…]

December 13th Shelter on the Papakauri Stream (km274)-to mountain top campsite on the Morepork track (km307) Mileage: 20.5mi/33km The day begin with a little bit of trail and then a 13 km road walk. Once on the road, I began marveling at how pleasant it was. I was passing many quaint little farms and about every kind of livestock that you can imagine. There was even a herd of cattle crossing the road, which made for an interesting encounter. A few of the bulls were very curious! Many TA walkers hitch the road sections, but I want to walk (or use some other method of human-powered travel, as is fit) to get across most of the country. Plus, I feel[…]

December 12th Paihia (km248)-shelter on the Papakauri Stream (km274) Mileage: 13mi/21km Today had the widest assortment of walking yet. I slept in a bit, until 6 am!, but couldn’t help myself from packing my stuff when I saw the blue skies outside. So much for a zero. I slept so well last night and felt rested and ready to hike. I did get roused briefly during the night by an unusual intruder…a local cat was trying to get into my tent, mewing and acting cute. No way was he going to mix with my down quilt and inflatable mattress/pillow but I did get up to go to the bathroom and then had a brief kitty-cuddle on the porch chair. The[…]

December 11th Kerikeri (km222)-Paihia (km248 Mileage: 16.2mi/26km Today was mostly a journey from one town to the next, with nice coastal views at the end. I packed up early and left the holiday park in search of the free wifi spot downtown. There I sat for several hours reading emails and then trying to figure out why my blog post app wasn’t working. Nothing would go through. Frustrated, I finally decided it was time to go back to doing what I do best: walking. The start of this section led past the stone store, a historic site and still functioning store. NZ has a relatively recent beginning, much like the US, so there aren’t a whole lot of historical highlights.[…]

December 10th Puketi rec area (km199)-Kerikeri (km222) Mileage: 14.3mi/23km plus too much walking around town. Today was a short-ish walk into the first large town, Kerikeri. I woke to the sound of rain on my tent as well as the rooster crowing. The rain was light and let up shortly after. With no rain for the first whole week, I’d say I have been pretty lucky. I followed Mike on the route through paddock fields most of the morning. A paddock is simply a parceled piece of rangeland. New Zealand practices rotational grazing, in which stock is periodically moved from one small paddock to another to more effectively alleviate over-grazing. It’s more work for the farmer but seems to be[…]

December 9th Apple Dam Campsite (km174)-Puketi rec area (km199) Mileage: 15.5mi/25km plus 2.5 miles walking around the Kauri Sanctuary. It was so quiet overnight, save for the occasional Morepork hooting. I woke up at one point thinking I was in a void. Down here, out of the way of the rest of the world, there are no jets flying overhead and no light pollution. But as soon as the sun begins to peak up at 5 am, all the birds come alive and it is impossible to sleep in. I wanted to get up early anyways to go visit the kauri sanctuary a few kilometers down the road. These are some of the biggest and oldest trees in the world[…]

December 8th 580m summit at start of Raetea forest (km140.5)-Apple Dam Campsite (km174.5) Mileage: 21mi/34km Today was the day that the the forest got real. Mostly it was due to the mud but the steep climbs and overhanging vines were significant players. To start, the sunrise from my mountain top camp was really beautiful. About 20 minutes into the hike, I begin thinking of my tactics in terms of the popular TV show American Ninja Warrior. Usually one of the beginning obstacles involves a scramble across unstable stepping stones or a rolling log. Much of the forest today was this obstacle, except that the penalty for getting it wrong was a plunge into the mud rather than a clear pool[…]