Pataua hitch to Whangarei

Yesterday I realized that I had left my heart pouch behind at David and Miriam's house, so this morning when wveyone woke up early, I opted to sleep in and hitch into Whangarei for a 0 day. I figured it's the city of the northland, I could get some Christmas gifts and mail them, and I could see David at his work and get my heart pouch back. I slept in and began walking down the lonely road from Pataua South. It was a long 7k down a nice secluded stretch of road before I was picked up by a fantastic woman who took me to her home on the outskirts of Whangarei. Wee were there briefly while she gathered some things, then she took me into the town itself. I was less than astounded by Whangarei, but it's a nice little town for what it is. I treated myself to a nice lunch and Caipirinhas on the harbor, reminiscing back to Ecuador years ago. It was a good urban break from the trail life, but it was already beginning to wear on me. I walked around, checked out the shops and the storefronts, walked in town for a few hours and quickly realized that i've seen all of whangarei there was to see. A nice town, but nothing special. I resolved to stay the day tomorrow and get some boring things done before heading back on the trail. I needed to print out the new maps, figure out where gary is meeting me etc. we'll see what tomorrow holds.

Day 20 Ngunguru- Pataua South

We woke up today on a lazy Sunday morning, and David offered to drive us to the head of our next trail cutting off a ton of awful road walking through deforested areas. We gratefully took him up on it, and got his information so that we could get in touch with them if we ever found ourselves in northern NZ again :). We walked down into our 'forest track' through massive deforestation on a hot sunny road. We got into the valley and had about 2k of actual woods before getting to the end and then hiking up the back side of the same mountain on hot, sunny, deforested roads. We would have loved to see the tall pine forests described, but instead we merely glimpsed the destruction of man. It was a sad section of track to have starting the day . We began walking afterwards down the road towards Pataua South. Nick hitched a ride with a local almost immediately, but the rest of us opted to continue on. We all split up far on the road, frustrated at a less than spectacular day. John passed myself Kaspar and Manja in a car and informed us that he had blown his knee out on the road behind us and he'd meet us in Pataua. We wished him well and soldiered on. About 3 hours later of fast hiking, Kaspar Manja and I were walking together when we saw a big banner declaring Double Brown Fest 2013! and a field with a tent and some people in it. We looked in curiosity and heard them call out "Ey! want a cold beer?!' to which we instantly responded 'Of Course!'. This is how WE met OT, Cris, and friends whose names I didn't write down and now regret. They are a group of childhood freinds who for the last 7 years have been gathering on their friend's farm and hosting a big party celebrating their long friendship. We came into the picture the morning after. It actually turned out that OT was the guy that had picked up Nick and taken him to Pataua earlier that day!. We stopped for a while, had a couple of beers, and then figured we should probably head back onto the road. We gave our thanks and moved on towards Treasure Island campsite for the night.

After about 5k more we entered the beautiful isolated village of Pataua North/South. A village split by a large Estuary joined by a gorgeous footbridge with a large mountain looming over their own sheltered cove on the ocean. There were many people on the beach and children collecting mussels and starfish in the water during low tide. Right before we got on the footbridge, OT pulled up behind us and passed us a case of beer and a bottle of homemade plum wine, explaining that they had too much left over from double brown fest. We thanked him and took it off his hands before walking across the great bridge to Treasure Island Campground, right underneath the hill over the cove. We joined up with John and Nick and were glad to see that John was doing alright and planned to continue with us in the morning. We did some laundry and I went for a swim in the cove only to discover it completely full of sea life. The sheltered bay was a perfect place for starfish sea urchins and eels. I swam with them for a short time then went back to the campsite for dinner and drinks with the group. We looked at the mountain and decided it needed to be hiked for the sunset. What a perfect decision that was. Manja Kaspar and I got to the peak just before sunset, and watched the last light descend over the tiny village of Pataua sheltered away from the mighty pacific ocean. It was an incredible cliff to be up on top of looking down on the entirety of the town as the last light faded away. We got to bed and talked of waking up very early the next morning to get across the estuary at low tide. Not something I was looking forward to >.<

Day 19 Whananaki- Ngunguru

We left Whananaki this morning after some decent fish and chips from the small store by camp and walked across an awesome footbridge crossing their estuary. From there we got a bit lost out on a spit, but we had a cool detour across the spit through a nice tall pine forest from beach to secluded beach. It was a great way to start a day. We were still sore from yesterday, and everyone had pains flaring up throughout the day. As we left Whananaki and moved towards Ngunguru we were treated with some spectacular views overlooking the ocean and fantastic homes with private beaches miles from the nearest town. The country was beautiful, and the coast breathtaking. The trail was nice, and we kept getting closer to Nguinguru. We had a fairly hot unshaded section right before town, and we were all sore afterwards when we were spit out on the final road section. We were walking into town and Nick and Manja dropped back to change ytheir shoes, and as we waited for them, we saw a runner stop and chat with them. She caught up with us after that, and told us her name is Miriam, and we are more than welcome to come pitch tents in her back yard for the night. We took her up on her offer, and walked to her home from there. About 20 minutes later we were introduced to her partner David and their wonderful little girl Nina.

They had just moved into the small coastal town of Ngunguru as David had gotten a new job as manager of the (awesome and beautiful) Quarry Gardens in Whangarei. We set up our tents chatting and then hobbled ourselves to dinner at the local cafe. The chef was actually an American woman, and she cooked the best fish and chips I have had in NZ. By \far. They also had homemade cakes and pies that were to die for. Probably the best carrot cake I've ever had in my life. We bought many cakes, pies, fish and beer and wine and shared a little bit of everything, loving the little slice of heaven we had found with fantastic fresh food in the great tiny town of Ngunguru. We went back to David and Miriam's place far less sore and more happy and stayed up with them for quite a while through the night entertaining Nina and chatting about everything from where we were from to where we were going, why we love travelling etc.

The conversation was refreshing and it was great to meet some fellow travelers, as they had just returned from several months in Europe visiting Miriam's family in Germany. Travelling has shown me one great thing so far, and that's that fellow travelers seem to be far more open to each other. More willing to share their homes and their hearts and their stories with one another. In a way like no other community I have been a part of. It's understood that we travel to learn. We travel to share, we travel to hear stories and share stories and enjoy things we don't know Travelling is broadening our minds hearts and worlds of experience, and it's an unbelievable community to get to be a part of. Nina is lucky to have gotten such an early start with such amazing parents! We got to bed, and I noticed my soreness was far less than what it was when I got into town. Sometimes the best ure for physical ailments is just having company there to make you forget about it for a while. I went to bed looking forward to the next morning, and I slept like a rock through the night on their soft grass.

Day 17 Paihia- Opua Harbor

We woke up on our last morning in the Parrot, and the rain still hadn't let up. The track notes talked about a 6k section at the beginning of the track in Russel Forest that is a knee-deep river walk that should be avoided if there might be a possibility of rain in the area. The last 3 solid days of rain made that an easy decision. However, Nick looked at the maps for a while and found a marked trail that looked like it would skip the river section and allow us to continue on the track without having to do the roundabout Russel Forest road walk track. We figured that would be perfect and set off on our journey. The morning began with an awesome water taxi ride out of Paihia Harbor up the river in the driving rain. It was tons of fun and we all enjoyed ourselves out on the water in the tiny boat. We got to the trailhead and were excited to be on the trail again. We began walking and got lost instantly trying to find this non-TA trail. We doubled back and began down a 'road' that was really more like a driveway. We followed it, as was marked on the map, rossing a few streams and maybe a few fences that we shouldn't have until eventually the trail grew cold. We had nowhere to go, and had to begin on the Russel forest road bypass. It was about noon, and we began to walk down the road. We hadn't done much that day, and spirits were getting lower, but we were glad that the rain had FINALLY let up. We got about 10k down the road, and Nick began thumbing. Right as we got to a place where we were supposed to turn off onto a smaller road, he got a man with a flatbed trailer to stop. He agreed to take  us all the way to Opua Harbor, and after some conversation we all agreed to take him up on it. It was just a road bypass after all ;).

 What followed was the most scenic drive I think I've ever been on in my life. We had tons of fun hanging on to a strap on a flatbed truck as he drove us literally down the scenic route past cliffs overlooking beautiful bach homes and small towns out on the pacific ocean. We even saw Fernando from the pickled parrot driving behind us towards Whangarei! We got to a point that was even more spectacular than all the others, and Phillip our driver pulled over to allow us to gaze upon Edward's Bay, a beautiful and pristine stretch of coast with huge rolling waves crashing in on it. We say and laughed and admired the ocean as our driver/host offered us fresh oysters that he had just grabbed up from the sea hours before. We got back on the trailer and Phillip dropped us off at beautiful Opua. We walked down the coastal town and over a hill at the end to a beautiful campsite set apart from town with its own island out in the bay and its own beach just under where we camped. We made dinner, went for swims, I swang in a nice tree swing underneath the beautiful 'christmas trees' of NZ that the campsite had. Then we stayed up late and watched the stars for a while over the water. A fantastic end to a fantastic day. I remembered that I just need to let the world come to me and show me wonderful things, and that's exactly what happened today. Many thanks to Phillip for giving us one of the most fun days we've had yet!

Day 16 Paihia 0 day!

Today was great. I met so many people in the kind common area of the Pickled Parrot. I updated my blog a few times, and spent the entire afternoon and evening with many new friends. From France, USA, England, Scotland, Spain, and the Netherlands. We all sat around the common room drinking and talking all night as the group enjoyed simply relaxing and being off of our feet. Glad for the respite, but ready for the day tomorrow. Also really nice to watch the rain pound down outside all day as we remained warm and dry inside eating ice cream and drinking whiskey! great day :)

Day 15 Kerikeri- Paihia

Today we woke up in kerikeri well rested, well fed and CLEAN! We all throroughly enjoyed our showers and clean clothes. We headed out fairly early, and the group split up in the rain as John and Kaspar went a different direction to get to the stone store than Manja Nick and I. When we got there, we went up on the track and got turned around up on top of the Pa because of bad track notes. We looked around for about a half an hour to find the continuation of the trail, and right as we found it John and Kaspar caught up with us! We continued on through a nice little trail over the kerikeri river and out towards Paihia. The day turned nicer and the rain we had in the morning went away in the afternoon. We enjoyed walking through the forests after a bit of a road section, and were granted a gorgeous view of Paihia from the top of a mountain with a monument. We sat there for quite a long time enjoying a bit of rest and then began walking down the road towards Paihia singing and loving life. We were greeted on the road by a man who told us that the route we were on was leading us to a terrible highway section and we were missing a beautiful river walk. We thought we knew better and completely ignored him without checking the maps. Only to realize 4k later that he was completely right. We were walking the wrong way, and the only way into town was via the highway. We Got to see some cool falls that we would have otherwise missed, but after that we walked on the main highway into Paihia for about 4k.

 It was dangerous, smelled like gasoline and the side of the road was covered in broken glass. Then it started to rain. We continued to walk with damp spirits and damp backs. We finally reached Paihia and Kaspar led us all the way through town to the Pickled Parrot which was on the exact opposite end of town from where we started. All the road walking had given me wicked shin splints, and I was incredibly grateful to have finally arrived at the parrot, it has been a while since my last rest day. we got into the Parrot and met some fantastic companions in the Hostel who we shared some nice Port wine and a few beers with before getting to bed nice and early. Forecast for tomorrow tons of rain and a 0 day! Today was one of the first times that we dismissed the idea of a local and didn't stop and enjoy their company chat with them and take their ideas. And boy did it bite us in the ass. I hope that as we and I continue I continue to say yes and listen to the people around me. Remember that everyone has something to teach me, and I'm just a guy walking in their country!

Day 14 Puketi to Kerikeri

Today, I was feeling a bit tired in the morning, so I let the others take off without me while I slept in a bit (I know, you're all surprised). The day seemed easy, a mere 20k through farmland into kerikeri. I set off just before 9, and almost immediately got lost in the poor signage in the farmland. I doubled back and began to walk down the more boring but far easier to navigate road bypass. After about 7k a young couple stopped and asked where I was going. When I told them I was headed into kerikeri they said they knew the exact track I was on and where it picked up on the other side of the farmland! They told me it would even be a shorter walk into kerikeri, so I agreed to take a ride with them around the small rural farms to the drop off point right by their home. Now back on the track i began to follow it climbing through more rolling farmlands and meadows. It went up a final ride displaying the beautiful Bay of Islands beneath me all at once. I was glad that they had convinced me to return to the track instead of the road. I took some time on the last hill looking out over the bay and once again marveling at the vastness of the ocean. I began to descend the farm in high spirits which were almost instantly crushed by getting lost once again. After about an hour of cursing more poor signage, I found the stile I was looking for in the bottom right corner of the pasture, where i had started on a hill in the top left. I then was able to hike along a beautiful river walk for about 5k before getting to a nice little roadside park at the end of the track. A man in the park agreed to take me to the Holiday Park in town, because I's had enough of road walking today. I was sure the group would have been there waiting for me with all of my directional challenges. They ended up coming in about an hour after me, having gotten lost in the same places! We got some delicious cheap burgers, some beer and had our own bunk room in the hostel to rest in. It was a good end to a fun day.

I found myself quite happy when I was alone today. It is still kind of strange to me having expected to be solo for the first half of this journey and ending up in such a large group. I like it, but I also really enjoyed the freedom that I felt today, especially at the top of the hill overlooking the bay. However, when I truly was hiking solo all I did was find people to hike with. I think that no matter where I go in my life I will always be striving to meet people. I don't yet know why because I do really enjoy time alone, but I don't find myself alone often. Getting true isolation on this trip or in life I think would be good but very difficult for me. I value it, but I always have a backup plan. I have friends in NZ now like I did at home, so even when I am alone I know support is nearby. It seems like a good way to be doing my own thing, but how isolated is it? Then again, if you isolate too much you just end up being a useless hermit, and no one wants that!