Houdini

Mile 210, KM 338
Kerikeri to Ngunguru

Podcast of the day: The Teachers Pet

I miss: Wine. White wine, red wine, rosé, basically any wine.

At first I regretted drinking that half a liter of water before going to bed because it was 2am when I had to step out into the cold night to pee. I went into the bushes and when I came back I looked up and what I saw was what looked like the sky of another planet. I just stood there for a while and looked at a set of stars I had never seen before. The air was clear and the night was cold and quiet. It was perfect.

‘It’ll be too windy. Sorry, no kayaking for you tomorrow’, said the guy at the kayak rental in Paihia. I was so bummed since I wanted to get going after just having spent a rest day in Kerikeri. The other option would have been a ferry ride and an additional 20km hike which just didn't sound great. No additional kilometers for this girl, thank you. So I ended up visiting every single shop in town and was bored out of my mind by the end of the day.

Next morning Rosi and I got to choose our kayak first and of course we chose the one kayak with steering issues. The people from the rental place had named it 'Houdini' because one obviously needs wizars skills to steer the damn thing. Anyhow. Rosi and I and about 12 other hikers started paddling and after about 2 hours we reached a tiny little island where we took a break. It took another 2 hours of paddling through the mangroves to a location where we picked up our packs and got back on trail. Didn't drown, didn't sink 'Houdini' to the bottom of the ocean and the best part was, that we didn't have to use our legs at all.

After that it was back to hiking. A bit of road walking, a bit of forest, a bit of mud and of course, a whole lot of river walking. I've started to feel pretty comfortable with the whole river situation here. The feet get cold but I prefer walking through water then trying to bushwhack through the dense forest which would only make me angry and get me lost.

I keep comparing the PCT to the TA knowing that I shouldn't be doing it since they are so different to one another. The North Island of the TA is very populated which is nice because there's no need to carry crazy amounts of food and water out of town, but it also means that everything feels a little less adventurous than it did on the PCT. You're walking through forests and past rural farmland, and at the end of the day you'll often find yourself on a campsite with a basic kitchen and a cold shower. No people but still, not the same. I know that will change once we get to the South Island. Don't get me wrong though, the forests can be pretty challenging here. Super steep and hard to get through at times. 7km can easily take up to 6 hours which is hard to believe knowing what miles we used to crush on the PCT. Having said that, I am enjoing this trail a lot. I love it and I love the little group that I am hiking with. My legs are getting stronger every day and it feels great to get back in shape. Guess who's back though? My good friend Plantar Fasciitis. Yesterday I started to feel that destinct pain in my foot and I know there's no way that it won't become a problem. Will have to deal with it somehow. I am already wearing special insoles so I don't really know what else I can do to stop it from becoming worse. Any tips? Send them my way please.

We're in Ngunguru at the moment. There's this nice guy who runs a little taxi boat business here and he gets hikers across the river with his litte boat, three hikers at a time. He also owns this ridiculously beautiful property on the other side of the river where we've set up camp for the night. Tomorrow should be a fun day. We're heading back to the coast. But before that there will be two big rivers we'll have to cross during low tide so we'll basicall have to wait until we can cross the first one only to run 10km to the next one before the water rises. Additionally I just heard that the second river is full of sting rays... #steveirvin

Wohoooo!

Ramen-Bomb

I look like a 5 year old