Month: November 2022

Despite the unsettling night, we were both in good spirits when we got up. Our first town day!! And a rest day tomorrow! And beds and showers and lights, my my.

We’ve got lush accommodation lined up (well, cabins anyway), a short distance, the wind at our back, and a cafe lunch in front. Time to kick it.

We resolved to try and get all the way into Ahipara as a bit of a test / training venture for the day. And we did it!! It was perfect walking conditions. Early morning sun, azure blue waves, no folks around, and a gentle breeze pushing us along.

The whole time I’ve been on 90 mile beach I’ve been thinking of my mum. Pippy shells, all the colours of the rainbow, have littered the shoreline. At the low tide, thousands of sand puffs can be observed, as the pippys push their way to the surface. The birds break them open with their specialised beaks and prize out the molluscs inside. Predated shells are scattered like confetti.

Pippy shells are a conduit to my childhood memories. My mum’s nickname is “Pippy” and the sound of the shells snapping and cracking and crunching underfoot is so ingrained and comforting and treasured. I will always love the colour, texture and sound of those shells.

We made it into the small coastal village by 11am. Quickly settled into our cabins, before venturing to the North Drift cafe for a luncheon feast. Two ice cold, fizzy drinks, toasted sandwich and chips, and an apple and custard muffin for me. Thank you very much!!

Rest day tomorrow. The end of 90 mile beach spells the end of the first chapter and the beginning of a new. Time for some planning, organisation, rest and food. Next up, we’ll be into the mountains!

Another day of waking. Another day of packing up. Another day of beach walking. But this time, under 20km worth!! The excitement was palpable! We got walking.

The highlight of the mornings walk was a mystery chopper, zooming overhead in what seemed to be a grid like pattern. Large cargo load swinging off the base. We wondered what it was for a while, before deciding on some sort of scientific explanation, like LIDAR or similar. That, or it was dispersing toxic gas over all the hikers…

We have met many people on the walk already. Most of them walked the extra 11km into town today, so it’s up to fate as to whether we see them again. Some we got to know a little bit, and others not at all.

Enzo, a young fellow who explained about his job working with teams of Husky dogs in -45 degree temperatures and, alternately, his “ordinary” life working in a pizzeria in France. We nicknamed him Stryder, owing to his dashing, rugged looks and very large walking stride. Stryder hadn’t heard of Lord of the Rings (he was that young!) and resolved to look it up before getting to Tongariro National Park (site of the infamous Mount Doom).

During the conversation, Stryder casually asked if I had heard the horse that he had seen grazing right next to my tent when he got up during the night. Ummmm. No. No I did not. I have been sleeping so well! I put it down to feeling so much more secure at night, having someone that cares about me looking out for me, and heaps of people around. Either that or it could be that I’m just completely buggered!

Janek from Germany, though young, was an absolute pro when it comes to long distance hiking. Conrad, also from Germany (I think) had just completed the Bibbulman in Australia, and come straight over to tackle this track. A young couple and his dad are here from the Netherlands and excited to be going on their first long distance trail. Others we saw regularly, but never actually met.

Now we are here at the campground and are the only hikers in sight. We’ve been greeted in the traditional way by a couple of Maori fellows who were impressed with Aubs Polynesian tattoo and the fact we were from Norfolk Island. Say what you want about our lovely, little island, but it is certainly a conversation starter.

The afternoon was spent wandering around the very small township; trying to entice a loveable, big mutt of a dog over to no avail – he’d just give us a bit of bark and then race around like an idiot; and yarning with, providing counselling to, and learning from a variety of characters who were staying at the park. Very friendly, talkative folk, the kiwis!

The evening ended bizarrely and awfully. Aubs and I were making our way back from the toilet block right before bed, when I noticed a man, dressed all in blue, appear from behind a fence just outside of the park. He had a gun, he raised it and he took aim, right into the middle of all the caravans. He fired. BOOM! BOOM! And he shot the loveable mutt with his air rifle. The mutt, whom we later found out to be called Romeo, howled and whined with pain, running around and around in circles trying to reach the source of the burning. Eventually he ran off, crying and whimpering with distress, no doubt towards home. He had been wearing a collar and a lead the whole time, had obviously escaped, but was much loved. As a dog lover, and a human, it was an awful thing to witness…not to mention dangerous and unsettling.

Romeo was known to many in the park. The upset and unease was palpable. No doubt the cops will be making a trip to see the shooter today. I hope they throw the book at him.

So, this one was not the best sleep in the world. I’m hoping this is the last we see of this sort of violence in New Zealand.

Well the title really says it all doesn’t it? 70 clicks by the end of the third day. It really is a brutal start.

We decided to push off early this morning. Try and get a few clicks under our belts before it began to heat up. First out of camp!! Gold stars to us!

And it was a good decision too. The sea had deposited a mysterious mist over the land. It was like walking into an infinite void, where one could be swallowed up whole and disappear forever.

The first 15km passed reasonably quickly, despite our various ailments. The last 15 though….pretty hellish. Is it crazy that something as beautiful as the ocean can get monotonous after a while? There came a point where I longed for a change in scenery, just to change the focus and interest.

I had a musing thought that whilst brutal, the designers of the trail might have done this on purpose….forced the walkers to face themselves and the challenge straight up. That they had set it up so there was nothing to do but let your thoughts drift like an endless current, pushing you further and further from the comforts of home.

Although it was tough, we laughed a lot, put on some tunes, and said the word ‘inlet’ countless times….without any other features we used them as distance markers. It felt an amazing achievement to make it to camp, after two very long days of hiking.

A nice hot shower, cool drink and dinner overlooking the sunset had me feeling right as rain again. Though definitely looking forward to a couple of shorter days and then some much deserved rest!

Broken gear count -1 (My little keyboard I usually use to type my blogs with…this is all coming directly from my phone, so no guarantees of future quality!)

Number of times tape has been used so far – 2 (Aubs tent and my feet)

Testing times for the brand new hikers. Testing indeed. Firstly a massive storm that ripped through camp at midnight, bringing with it crashing lightning and lashings and lashings of rain. Not really the start we were hoping for. Despite little sleep, two dry tents made for a successful start to the day….if not a bit of a late start. By the time we were packed up and ready the hordes had departed, leaving us alone to take a final look at the beach.

The days walk commenced in a civilised manner. Up over a little bush track, made even more pleasurable in the knowledge that once we hit the beach again, we hit it hard! They don’t call it 90 mile beach for nothing!!

So it was good times and a lot of laughs before…plop, plop, plop. Big, fat drops of rain. Slow and steady at first. Little by little getting harder and harder and harder. Until it was torrential. With not much else to do we splashed along in muddy puddles yelling defiantly to the gods of trouble .

I shouldn’t have done it, because before long we hit the beach. The long, long, long, long beach. In wet shoes and a dripping attitude. The gods of trouble continued with their rain wrath, the sand sticky wet, and clinging to everything it touched.

It wasn’t all bad. Beautiful coastline. The crawing of huge, fat gulls with black beaks. Shells and starfish littered the shore. Iridescent purple jellyfish swirling like space.

Although the rain eventually petered out, heavily running inlets kept shoes drenched. The wet sand in my socks began to rub both feet and mind.

It was lovely to have somebody to talk to. Steadfastly walk with, despite aching feet and tired legs.

We hobbled into camp late in the day, cheering excitedly at our achievement. On tender feet and legs, tents were slowly erected, and the unwinding was able to start. A freezing cold shower washed away the grime of the day and the last of the toils. Sitting in the sun, drinking a hot cocoa with my hair drying, watching Aubs come back from an exploration of the surrounding islands, I felt peaceful and happy.

Just need to do it all again tomorrow now! Another 30km day. The start of this trail is indeed, brutal.