0 km - 100 km

I completed the first 100 km.. To summarize the past four days: it was very tough, but wonderful. Here are a few photos and words to give you an idea.. 

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga, the most northern point of NZ

Walking the 1st of the 1636 km

View of Warahi Beach from Cape Reinga

Warahi beach on tuesday night

Sunset above Cape Maria van Diemen

Cape Maria van Diemen

First sight of Ninety Mile Beach

Fishermen at Ninety Mile Beach

Camping in the dunes on thursday night

Sunset Matapia Island

Sunset

84 km of beauty

I left the lighthouse at Cape Reinga on tuesday in the afternoon. After 30 minutes of hiking the first challenge presented itself. I became stuck on the first beach because of high tide. Neither crossing the rocks, nor finding a route through the bush higher on the hill were succesfull. I waited for 2 hours and tried to cross the rocks again. This is when I arrived at a 4 m drop. I tried climbing down with my backpack, but the rocks were too slippery and I was afraid the weight of my backpack would cause me to loose grip and fall backwards. I tried different things until I found myself holding onto the rocks with one hand and holding my 15 kg backpack below me with the other hand… And I waited… It must have been funny to watch. I remember thinking: no way back now, and I dropped my brandnew bright blue pack on the rocks below me in the brown mud and seaweed. The adventure had started ;)

After that I had a pleasant evening walk along Te Warahi Beach and camped just before Cape Maria van Diemen. The next day it started raining when I was walking along Twilight beach. Far in the distance I noticed two little figures: more hikers. I kept following their footsteps. In bright sunshine I climbed Pukekarea hill (120 m) from where I enjoyed a fantastic view across ninety mile beach: the beach that I would follow for the next 84 km. After 5 km I met up with my fellow hikers: both from Germany and on their way to Auckland along the same route. The next day I kept noticing their silhouettes in the mist behind me, but at one point the distance between us got too big and I was on my own again.

I camped three nights in the dunes in the company of sandflies and with the evening entertainment of wonderful sunsets. I walked most days from dawn until 5 pm. I loved walking on the beach. I enjoyed the wide open space, the patterns in the sand, the shells, the sound of the sea and the change of the tide. The beach and streams were most of the time quite clean. I saw the bodies of three dead seals and a little dead dolphin. On the third day the beach got busier: busses went by with curious tourists staring and waving at me, and fishermen parked their cars along the beach and walked in the water with their nets at low tide. Despite the weather forecast of ten days of rain, there were only a few showers. It was sunny most of the time, sometimes cloudy and sometimes windy.

At the third day I realised I was running out of food pretty quickly. On top of that the streams became very small and covered with trash from the ocean. Despite filtering all the water, I wasn’t keen getting water from a dirty stream with a dead bird next to it. What I had left was a big bag of mashed potato powder and dried peas, but no water to prepare either of them. The third night I went to sleep without dinner. The next morning I walked 12 km to the next lodge, where I was welcomed with a cup of tea, and received a new supply of water and some fruit, veggies, chips, fish and biscuits… a very luxurious brunch. I was a bit afraid though to come too close to anyone, aware of the fact that I smelled like a mixture of salt, mud, sweat and seaweed. You can take a look at www.hukatere.com : a nice place to stay if you are walking this trail.

I am now in Ahipara, getting some rest. It is a small and very laid-back town with many old wooden houses and sleeping dogs in the gardens. The campite is busy because of a local surf competition. There is a nice big general area where many people are watching the Rugby World cup games in the evening.

The score after the first 100 km: three blisters, sunburn on right side of neck, tight shoulder muscles,  tired feet, still smiling J

The next part of the hike will be challenging with four dense forrests to cross: Herekino forrest, Raetea forrest, Omahuta forrest and Puketi forrest. Fortunately a friend from Holland, Sjoerd, will join me within the next few days. To be continued J