Distance = 25km. Total = 895km. Smell Factor = 8/10 The night was cold and very windy but both tents stood up to the test. The morning was still windy but no where near as bad. The track was pleasant and although we were up high it wasn't too steep. The views at points were incredible, it was a beautiful clear day so we could see for miles. Emma and I rocked out to meatloaf to pass the time, singing along as much as we could when we had enough breath. Tom, Harry, and the hillside sheep were all very lucky to enjoy our amazing rendition of 'Paradise by the Dashboard light' as we filled the hills with a very unique sound of music. By doing this we managed to go slightly off track but thankfully Tom and his degree in Geography (colouring) managed to work out a way to get back on track. The views continued to amaze with rolling fields all around, the odd rocky outcrop and even Mt. Pirongia in the distance. We came across a farmer and she confirmed that we were indeed off track and that Tom's plan was correct. The farm was massive, stretching out as far as we could see. Once on the main road it was all down hill and we continued to play music to keep our spirits high. We reached Waitomo in the late afternoon and immediately went to the cafe. I had two ice creams amongst other things as the afternoon had been quite warm. We decided to treat ourselves to a room for the night and booked into the hostel. Following a heavenly shower and feeling relatively clean we headed to the bar for a good feed and some alcoholic beverages. The Turner
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Distance: 34km, 8km, 23k. Total: 870km. Smell factor: 2, 7, 8 (wet dog sort of smell).
Joan kindly dropped us back on the trail just outside Hamilton picking up Harry and Emma on route. We were all in good sprits following a needed rest. Bags were heavy from our resupply but we were all feeling ready to push out a big walking day. The trail was taking us towards the mountain of Pironga and we hoped to reach the campground at its base. It took a coffee shop stop and a bag readjustment to get comfortable, after that, progress was good. The terrain was mixed and Pironga loomed in the distance as we began to gradually climb. The afternoon gifted us a glorious spot and an awesome vista. We relaxed there for some time and absorbed the surroundings. The open and uninterrupted views are something I've been craving. The forests have their beautiful qualities but the ability to see miles of landscape can not be beaten. After unknowingly resting in a cowpat we continued on whilst I endured countless and ongoing jokes about my soiled shorts! We wound around numerous trails, farms and gravel roads, singing to more cheesy motivational tunes. Later that day we arrived at our destination in good shape, happy with our achievement. We all disappeared in to our tents resting and readying ourselves for a climb tomorrow. I poked my head out of the tent in the early morning encouraged by the sunlight beaming through my tent. Sadly, deep purple clouds were approaching from the west and before long we were enveloped in drearyness as Luke and I sat cooking breakfast. Fortunately, our good planning meant we only needed to walk 8km to reach the DOC hut at the summit. We would stay there the night and then decend in the morning. We briefly explored a nearby cave and then began our days walk. Once again, we traipsed into the depths of another forest. Initially, the trail and the weather were bearable. Two hours in and I foolishly expressed my thoughts; "we are making good progress guys". As a result, the rain and the wind intensified and the trail became a familar bog. We rose above the bush line and were pounded by the weather. Progress slowed. Waterproofing was ineffective and we were soon saturated. To add to the challenge the department of conservation (DOC) have a habit of building random 5 metre stretches of boardwalk which abruptly finish at the edge of another bog. With my head down I did not notice the nimble bog dogding from Luke and Emma in front, I steped off the boardwalk and immediately sunk to my knees. I cursed and back tracked as my 'friends' looked on and laughed. The rest of the climb was equally wet and muddy. We peaked and got a great view of nothing! We all stood at the top of the view tower taking selfies in a sea of cloud. Shortly after, we arrived at the hut, striped all our wet gear off, made hot drinks, instant soup, and spent the early evening playing cards in comfort. We slept intermitently that night. A seinor walking group arrived the evening before. Oddly, many of them went to bed at 7pm which we thought a little premature. Consquently, this meant our alarm was premature. The walking group had no conception of hush in a shared space and were clattering around and seemingly shouting to each other at the unreasonable time of 5am. This unintentionally kick started the day. Outside still looked grim and much of our equipment was still soaked. We wrapped up with our remaining warm layers. Naturally, a half hour later the weather changed its tune and we were soon overheating. The decent was another boggy venture but the weather held strong. At the exit to the forest was a small stream where we all cleaned down. The remainder of the day was straightforward and we dryed as we walked in the afternoon sun. Camp that night was a windy sheep field, this did us just fine. All in all, that was another epic few days battling New Zealand. One day soon we hope to get a view from one of these peaks! The Hobbit. Distance = 0. Total = 805km. Smell Factor = 0/10.
Following a tough day in the rain it felt amazing to have a couple of rest days. We spent a good portion of our time doing our trail chores, with the help of Bleddin. We completed our tasks during the day and we were fed like kings each evening. Joan cooked the most amazing dinners for us and she must have been informed of our appetites as there were always second helpings, sometimes even third helpings, and each glorious meal was followed by an equally scrumptious dessert. Hikers hunger can be really rather serious, not only for the bodies energy output but for Tom and I it changed our mindsets. So far since leaving San Fransisco Tom has lost 3kg and I have lost 5kg. Joan had certainly helped to combat this weight loss and we will both be forever grateful for this. The Turner Distance = 24km Total = 790km Smell Factor = 10/10 Tom returned from washing the breakfast stuff and filling the water bottles with a dog. His collar revealed his name as Sparky. We had been barked at by this elderly Jack Russell cross when we arrived last night but this morning he was brave enough to come over to our camp site. He was quite clearly no puppy (we all estimated him to be between 12 and 14 years old). He had a slight hobble due to a rather large growth on his back right leg. A cute little fella who seemed interested by everything we had. We packed up camp and headed back down the road to the entrance of the forest track. We passed a work man for the farm who lent out of his window and yelled to Sparky "go home you old bastard" before explaining that he might follow us a little way but he would soon wonder back home. We climbed up through the first part of the track, it was a steep climb but mainly steps. Sparky continued to follow us. The weather was awful and the rain showed little sign of stopping. The track became increasingly difficult, the steps were replaced by slippery tree roots and our old friend mud was back in our lives. Sparky continued to follow us. Roughly an hour in we took our first bag drop, resting in a small clearing whilst the rain continued to punish us. We had not seen Sparky for a while, when who should come wondering around the corner? Sparky the plucky little bugger, hobbling along, he was in no mind to stop and pretty much walked straight by us. What a little legend. We were too far into the forest to return him and we couldn't leave him as there was no telling if he could make it back home, he was with us for the day. However, Walkies and the Te Araroa are two very different things, especially to an old, slightly blind, possibly deaf, limping dog. It wasn't long before he started slowing. The growth on his leg was not looking good. We gave him as much of our food as we thought would be OK for him and to speed things up a little we used our day bag as a dog carrier. Each of us took it in turns to wear the bag on our front (as well as our stupid massive rucksacks on our back) and carry Sparky. After a while he would become restless so we would have to put him down so he could walk for a bit. By this point we had been walking for four hours and had only reached half way, soaked through to the bone we had one collective goal, get Sparky out of the forest and reunited with his owners. Not only was everything drenched and muddy but it was also now covered in dog hair. Poor little Sparky was also cold and wet. Towards the end of the day he didn't seem as reluctant to be carried, often sheltering his head inside the bag too. After a steep final descent and eight hours walking we were finally got out of the forest. We walked into the small local town and had coffee, hot chocolate, chips, and cake. It was exactly what we needed. We dried Sparky with our towels and he fell asleep almost instantly, the shop owner gave us some tea towels so I used those and my coat to try to keep him warm. Emma managed to get in contact with his owner, who was most relieved to know we had him and came to pick him up. What an amazing adventure for this plucky little fella, Spaky's big day out. An inspiration to all of us. The Turner Emma and our ingenious dog carrying system
Distance: 22km. Total: 766. Smell factor: 6/10 A farmer offered us a camp spot on his land. He gave us a lift in his ute.
Distance: 25km. Total: 744km. Smell factor: 3/10.
Today was another random day. The walking was mixed grade and quite picturesque beside the river. Then, gradually, we began to hear the muffled noises of a rally track in the distance. Before long, the trail closely passed the track on the opposite side to the observer stands. Our presence could not have been more obvious. The next thing we knew we were being heckled and even challenged by the local motor-heads over the tannoy to have a go. Then, unexpectedly, I found myself entered into a race. I was handed some massive overalls (which I could have fitted into 3 times over), strapped into this dubious looking car, helmet smacked on my head and told to get going. "Put her in second and leave her in second" I was advised. At this point I did partially question what I was doing but then I remembered I do know how to drive, and, at least this car has a head gasket unlike my own. Off I went and I began to build the pace as I grew in confidence. I was overtaken and that sparked some annoyance so then I really pushed it, speedily holding the car around the muddy bends.. My brother would be proud. I was enjoying it so much I missed the final flag and drove an extra lap! Afterwards, the owner started releasing me from the safety belts. Causally he mentioned "I should have probably taught you how to disembark in case the car was alight and you burned alive". Yes sir, you probably should have. The Hobbit. Distance: 0km. Total: 719km. Smell factor: 0/10.
Seven big walking days was enough and we both needed rest. Mercer was not our usual rest location, it was essentially a grubby motorway service station south of Auckland but it would do nicely. We sat in the food hall with Ellen and Yens (the Belgians) for many hours, eating and chatting. We remained pitched at the local pub. As a result, our night was spent there and we became acquainted with the people of Mercer. We consumed copious amounts of alcohol and the consequences were rather catastrophic. Luke boldly strolled over to the DJ and volunteered us for karaoke. Bloody idiot. It must have been an horrific sight as us intoxicated Englishmen and two Belgians sang the Proclaimers. Needless to say, the locals loved it. Unfortunately, we had drawn too much attention to ourselves and I was then forced to dance with a lady wearing huge sunglasses and an unsavy likeness to Stevie Wonder; beggars cant be choosers I guess. By the end of the night we had attempted numerous songs. A fight broke out somewhere and that was our cue to leave. All in all, I blame Luke for that local experience. Likewise, the karaoke footage has been burnt. The Hobbit. Distance = 25km Total = 719km Smell Factor = 8/10
Having been bitten to hell last night by sand flies I woke up with the itchiest legs in the world, it looked like I had a bad case of chicken pox. This did give me a kick up the backside to get moving and take my mind off wanting to scratch my legs to bits. I am quickly learning that this trail is about managing pain rather than curing or preventing it. If it's not blisters it's sand fly bites, if not my knees then my ankles. Although my mind is in a good place my body is not enjoying this walking malarkey. It was back into another jungle today, it probably seems like over kill to call it a jungle but forest just doesn't seem to do it justice. It was steep going to start with and just to add a little spice to the walk there were a million vines crossing the track. The nimble little hobbit seemed to glide through these with professional level ease whereas lanky old me got caught by everyone of the sods, often looking like a daddy long legs stuck on a spiders web. Sometimes I could use brute force to push through but more often than not Tom had to come to my rescue (SEPARATE TENTS !!!). I thought this trip might give me a greater appreciation for nature but at this point I just wanted to burn down every tree in the forest. The rest of the days walking was relatively easy but the morning had drained me so when I asked Tom how long was left to Mercer (our end goal for the day) and he replied with 8km I could have cried. Instead I took my bag off and just lied flat out on the ground, having a silent strop just like a 3 year old. I trudged those last few hours in silence just trying to keep up with Tom, I would have definitely just set up camp there and then if it were not for Tom and the knowledge of there being a pub at the end. The last 2 km were particularly stupid as we walked through crazy long grass and along a steep bank; on which I fell over 3 times, whilst a nice smooth road ran parallel to us. We were greeted into this random dive of a town by a lady offering for us to camp in the pubs beer garden. We were skeptical to say the least, but once we saw another 4 tents of fellow TA walkers we felt much better. We had a few beers and two massive and surprisingly good pizzas whilst sharing trail tails with the other walkers. A much better end to the day than the beginning. The Turner. Distance: 22km. Total: 694km. Smell factor: 5/10.
Uneventful walking day today so pictures rather than words. Distance = 20km Total = 672km Smell Factor = 2/10
Matt dropped us off back on the track and we put in a few kilometres before we stopped for breakfast. The track headed back through a fairly steep forest to begin with but we smashed through it and found a nice cafe to have a rest at for a little while. It was all road walking from then on but they were nice and quiet so we made good progress. We passed lots of horses and Tom tried a couple of times to steal himself one so he could gallop his way across the country, unfortunately non of them were Shetlands so I don't think it would have worked for him. With few options for camping we walked very slightly off track to see the Huana waterfall and decided it would be a great place to pitch up. We pitched up hidden around a corner so as to avoid being moved on by any potential park ranger. It was a beautiful spot to relax at, although the water was far too cold for a swim it was perfect for washing some of our clothes. We were both brushing our teeth late in the evening when we looked round to see what looked like an eye staring at us. With slight nerves I shone my head torch in its direction, nothing there. So I switched off the torch and we realised it was a glow worm. Intrigued we went to find more, there were hundreds of them in the rocks around us. It was so captivating that I forgot I was brushing my teeth, twenty minutes later and with my tooth brush still in my mouth we had explored the area. Like little stars against the black back drop of the rocks and with the waterfall crashing away in the background it was a rather incredible place to brush my teeth. The Turner. |
Blog updated until Day 93.
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