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

An impression of Kaikoura to Tauranga

Tokomaru bay, a little paradise north of Gisborne

:( No!!!! I don't want to leave the south island...

The hostel in Tokomaru bay

The hostel cat :)

Sunrise Tokomaru bay

A run through Abel Tasman national park: beaches with snow covered mountains on the background

The inhabitants of the westcoast, north of Kaikoura

The most north-eastern point of New Zealand (called the East Cape)

Don't-let-it-rain ceremony in Kaikoura, after tearing two new gaps in my tent (total is five)

Me and the Takaka cows, enjoying staring at ech other

Wild horses on the way to the East Cape

Wanaka

Well... I have to say I feel a bit sad. After a few hours (and days) of procrastinating I left Wanaka last wednesday...  I lived in Wanaka for 6,5 months. I fell in love with the mountains, the lake and the scenery, and met some wonderful people who helped me to feel truely at home. I feel very grateful for the past six months and hope to be back.

I arrived in Wanaka with one backpack.. And left with one car, one bike, one guitar, two tents, two sleepingbags, two pillows, a hammer, and even a saucepan... Interesting ;) And off we went.. passed lake Pukaki, lake Tekapo, Fairlie.. places that me and Chris visited together at the beginning of the year.

And life goes on...

https://picasaweb.google.com/102991575880955556580/Wanaka?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzz87q5nceiDA#

The Big test: do my shoes give blisters, is my backpack too heavy..etc?

My gear is almost complete. I have new shoes, a tent and backpack, a compass, a gps, a spot locator beacon, first aid kit, walking poles, shorts, a hat..etc So this week I put it all in my backpack, and the backpack on the scales: 8 kg minus sleepingbag, clothes and food/water. Not too bad :) But I wondered: what if  I would be fed up with the weight of the bag within the first hour of hiking....!? In that case, I would be in big trouble.. :)

So the next sensible step seemed: put the pack on my back and walk the most challenging day walk I can find. I chose Roy's peak, 1578 m high and an 11 km return walk.

It was a pleasant day. Fortunately my shoes felt comfortable and the backpack felt like a ,not too heavy, extension of my body. The walk was awesome. At the top, the wind was quite strong and the clouds came in. There were big patches of snow. A great winter-tramping experience.

So no signs of discomfort (yet ;).  I quess I am ready to hit the trail :)

Getting fit: crosscountry skiing, snowboarding, running and kayaking. Oh.. and some hiking.

Part of my "Te Araroa Getting Fit Plan" consisted of running a marathon. Since march I have been training for this by running the trails in and around Wanaka. We ran a marathon at the 31st of august along this route:

The trail was amazing: one of the most scenic marathon runs in the world I quess. This is a picture of me and my friend Willi finishing in Lake Hawea.

These are some other pictures taken during the winter in Wanaka:

Te Araroa

Being raised in the Netherlands, I have never spend much time in real wilderness. I am more at home in cities, buildings, shopping malls, trains and cars... My passion for nature and tramping aroused in 1999 when my dad took me on a trip to Ladakh in India, and on a multiday hike through the Hymalayas. It was a great experience. The scenery was nothing like I had ever seen!! It made me want to spend more time in nature.

In the following twelve years I enjoyed multiday hikes in various countries. Switzerland reminded me to be prepared for snow in the middle of summer. Spain took me on a walking pilgrimage and taught me that walking helps to realise what is important in life. Australia showed me the beauty of hiking in an extremely dry landscape where the rocks are orange and the skies always blue. And in New Zealand my travel buddies taught me some important lessons: that to them nature is more exciting and wonderful than any amusement in a city could ever be. Every mountaintop was a challange to them to climb, every waterfall an invitation to jump, and passing a cave on our route meant at least an houre break to explore...

So, my plan is to hike the length of the North Island along the Te Araroa trail (meaning 'the long route' in maori) between september 2011 and january 2012. I would love to hike the length of both islands, but because of a booked flight this is not possible. I would be very happy anyway to cover the length of one island. The distance from Cape Reinga to Wellington is 1636 km. I have never hiked such a long distance before, neither alone, and I realise I am not the most experienced tramper you could find. On the other side, my physical condition is not bad, I am persistent to do this and I am aware of the hazards and dangers that I might come across (bad weather, high rivers, getting lost etc).

The Te Araroa trust was founded in 1994, and since that time they have worked very hard to construct the full 3000 kilometres of trail. At the end of 2011 the trail will officially open. I always have to smile when I read the stories of all those efforts to complete the trail and the simple down-to-earth reason for it all... 'Because it wasn't there...'

A wise tramper stated: 'There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear'. I agree with these words and that's the reason why I am collecting a bag full of goodies that should get me through the next few months.. It takes a lot of time to organise, but I am enjoying the process. I am learning about satellites, bidding on TradeMe, grids, down, merino, rainresistance of tents, waterfilters, river crossings, locator beacons etc. It's fun!

At this blog I will share my experiences of the hike with you. It would be very nice if my story would inspire everyone to also take time off  to dwell in nature, and to take initiative to protect nature and true wilderness. And for those who are planning to hike the Te Araroa trail, my blog might become a source of information. I hope you will enjoy reading my story.. :)