Back to the BIG City

We got another healthy dose of Kiwi hospitality this section. In the last week, we were only in our tents for 2 nights. Pretty good, maybe I'll leave it behind, ya know, lighten the load. Although it does rain a lot here, so on the nights where we had to sleep out, we would run the risk of getting really wet.

We were treated to a delicious meal out and a dry warm bed by Meindert & Gerda in Mangawhai Heads, we met and stayed with Graeme Dingle (founder of Project K) and his wife Jo in Leigh, and a fun party night at John and Kim's house in Puhoi. We had the great opportunity to hike with a long trail legend Razzu all the way from California, he put our daily distance average to shame when he told us he averaged 25 miles on his hike rather than our 25k a day.

Last night we were picked up in the outskirts of Auckland by Alice's dad. Good thing because there are not too many places to pitch the ol' tent in suburbia. We are currently reaping the benefits of being in the house of Alice, great food cooked by her mom and having a choice of more than one outfit.

We enjoyed some satellite hiking today courtesy of Alice's dad. Satellite hiking is really nice, you hardly need any gear, just some water and lunch, oh yeah and a rain coat. A nice change from the 18Kg (40 lbs.) average pack weight. I think my bag today was somewhere around 1.5kgs (3 lbs.). I think that I forgot that it was on. We actually had a stream crossing, that's right, in Auckland. Apparently there is a bridge planned for the southern end of Campbells Bay, but we beat the bridge building crew. We all took our shoes off and waded the stream, I gave Alice a piggy back ride so that she would not have to re-tape her heels (a bit of blister prevention). All in all, we did manage to squeak out 34 kilometers in the city and a ferry ride. It is definitely much different from any of the hiking we have done so far. We're going to take our second proper day off tomorrow. So without further ado, I'm going to bed, goodnight.

Dennis

pictures:
Lane, Razzu and I at the Waiwhiu Kauri Grove
Alice gets a piggy back ride
East Coast Bays Walkway to Auckland
North Head
Cornwall Park

Boat crossings

In order to take the path that we intended to take, we had to deal with two large inlets. We were told that we could swim the first one if it were low tide, but none of us wanted to completely submerge our packs, other than the possibility of our gear getting wet, the pack would probably weigh twice as much after it was water logged. Plus, low tide was at midnight, and the moon would be nowhere to be seen. The second inlet was quite large, and had a lot of large ocean liners traveling in it, don't think they would see Al, Lane and I floating in the middle.

So a difficult task was at hand.

Well, until a few really nice folks came along and gave us a lift. Shane and Tenisha gave us a ride across the Ngunguru Inlet, and Clint and Kristy gave us a ride across Whangarei Heads.

Thanks a lot guys, you really helped us out.

Website Back Up!

Well, sorry to all the fans out there, It has been a frustrating few fays. But I finally got to a computer that could do what I needed. So, the progress page is back up, have fun following along.

Dennis

Back to the coast

(Written October 7th)

Section three is all about variety, from the weather to the landscape and our various sleeping accommodations. We're finally getting some consistent sunny days. We started the hike with it raining every night and although we haven't had the crazy lightening and hail storms that the rest of the country have been having, we definitely have had some rain. It rained 7 times during the first morning we left Kerikeri. There was constant stopping and putting the rain gear on, taking the rain gear off. Dennis and Lane even spent one rain shower cowering under a gorse covered bank, Dennis with no shirt on, during one of our breaks to avoid having to repeat the process one more time.

This section we walked through forest, beaches, coastal walkways, farmland and roads. Its crazy how much the landscape changes within a day. We walked the Russell Forest Track which had near vertical ups and downs to awesome views and kauri groves. We also battled gorse thickets and climbed over sketchy uncleared landslides. By the end of the day we were on the coast looking at picturesque sandy bays.

We have definitely had some varied sleeping spots too. Our first night we camped down by the coast looking over oyster farms. On the Russell Forest Track we came across a 'hut', which was really just a shelter with some interior walls which divided it into three sections. Dennis and I went to sleep in the biggest section to a clear starry sky. In the middle of the night sometime he woke me up to say it was raining. I couldn't have cared less at that stage, I was well snuggled into my sleeping bag and had my hat on so felt fine. After a fair bit more prompting I finally extracted my arm to feel my very wet sleeping bag and the wind whipping the rain into the shelter. We spent the rest of the night crowded in amongst the bird droppings on a much more cramped bench. Our next night was on the floor of a wool shed, and now we're at my friend's beach place near Sandy Bay. Thank you so much to Mark and Caroline, you guys are awesome. We showed up to beer, a freshly baked cake, steaks and bacon and eggs for breakfast. Very luxurious.

On that note, we have also randomly come across the nicest people during our hike. We have had offers of places to stay, cars pulling over offering us lifts (and also promises of not telling anyone if we take the lift - we haven't caved yet), and general advice on trails in the area. Its blown us away. If your faith in humanity ever falters, put a big pack on your back and go walking round this country, it will be fully restored.

Well onto section four. Our bodies are finally coming into form. With a few hundred kilometres behind us we are no longer hobbling into camp at night like grannies. Waipu is 100km away, and the end of section four.

Alice

Funny Stuff

So when your alone in the woods and you want a picture of everyone, you have to set up the camera on a timer, then run to get in the picture. Here is the first attempt on a really cool tree that I thought would be a great photo. It came out a bit dark, so on the second try, I jumped up on to the tree, but in my haste, fell over the back side. In the process, I kicked Lane in the mouth and made him fall off too, there was no third attempt....

Dennis

ps - It appears I broke the progress page on our website, and being the creator and only person who knows how to fix it, I can't repair it until Auckland, probably 2-3 weeks, sorry

North Land Walks

So, We have had a change of scenery since Ninety Mile Beach and Ahipara. Back on the trail after half a day of rest we entered the Herekino forest track. It was filled with elevation changes and mud. The occasional view point was found though and was rewarding. From there we entered the Mangamuka Walk Way which was most difficult. We accomplished only 14km one day. That is a far cry from the 25km or so that we have been averaging. The last two days were spent in the rain in the Puketi Forest. Wet, but we did come across a grove of Kauri trees that were very cool. They are huge trees with very straight trunks, and most have been cut for lumber. We were saved from the rain one night when we came across a D.O.C hut. We were warm and dry. We have meet some really cool people along the way thus far. Thank you to all who have helped us along. Till the next post, we will try to keep dry and some kilometers behind us. Hiking.......Lane

Pictures - 3 of us and scenery
cow road block
cow in scenery
campsite
mud

First Section Done!

So, 101km down, only 2799km to go. We've spent the last 4 days on 90 mile beach and made it to Ahipara. Its been pretty amazing so far, although we're definitely pleased to be away from the sand for a bit. Dennis' boast that he wasn't going to get a single grain of sand in his pack was over in the first 15 minutes when he discovered the hose to his hydration pack had come unattached so everything had to come out onto the beach to save his stuff from getting drenched.

The landscape was awesome at first, but did get monotonous by the end. We were walking over crazy dunes, cliff edges and wide open beaches. It was pretty surreal having endless sand dunes to our left, flat beach in front of us and crashing waves to the right day after day. By the third day, when there were no distinguishable landmarks for the entire day, we were beginning to go a bit crazy. "Is that a bus on the horizon or just two seagulls perfectly placed so that they look like headlights?" The buses were a highlight though. Tourists flew by at 100km an hour on their way up to Cape Reinga. We managed to get a wave out of everyone, but one short bus thought it was hilarious to swerve right towards us and turn away at the last minute - scary the first time, funny the second, it was getting a little old by the third time.

Other than that we've seen seals, wild horses - 15 of them strolling past our campsite, and its rained every night. We're hanging out at the Ahipara Backpackers and Motor Camp until this afternoon then starting the trek to Kerikeri which should take about 5 days. We're feeling a little sore and are still getting along, no one's thrown a tantrum... yet.

Hope you're all good and we'll be in touch in Kerikeri.

Alice

pictures:

The start at Cape Reinga
Walking through crazy sand dunes
Our first campsite
Our vista for 4 days

We Made It! Well, the easy part...

We made it here, although it was pretty easy, I slept 8 hours on the plane. Lane didn't sleep at all. We did our first proper New Zealand training hike using the gear we will be taking and in similar terrain that we will be hiking in. It went well considering it was the thickest bush I have ever seen, and we were on a "trail". We had 32 stream crossings in a 4km stretch.
Gonna get started this upcoming Saturday the 22nd. Alice's mom is going to drive us to Cape Reinga on Friday and we'll officially hit the trail Saturday. It is hard to believe that it is here, after 8 months of planning a trip in terrain that you have never seen before, it feels good to finally be here.
Well gotta go, off to enjoy a three hour shower, a soft bed and any other luxuries (the refrigerator) I can find at Alice's house before I move into my tent for 5 months.

Dennis

Almost ready

Well, its hiking time. Alice is already in New Zealand, and Dennis and Lane will be arriving on the 13th of September. We will get on the trail during the 3rd week in September. We have spent countless hours over the last few months planning this adventure. We can't wait to be done with map printing, gear ordering and packing, and actually start hiking to see what lies ahead of us. We think we're prepared for whatever Mother Nature sends our way.

We hope that all of you at home are as excited as we are, and that you follow our adventure as it unfolds. We will be updating the site as much as possible with progress maps, donations, and photos. So when you get a chance check in and see how we are doing.

Hiking,

Lane, Dennis, Alice

Well, it finally happened, we now have a web page. I guess you already knew that, or maybe you just happened upon it, right... If you all could do me a favor and be my guinea pigs. Let me know if there are any problems with the web page. I know that most of you have already changed your browser to www.nzunderfoot.com to your home page. That makes us feel so warm and fuzzy inside. The thought of all you guys starting your Internet day with us is so touching. Well, if that's not true, at least come to visit us and see what we're up to. We are currently planning, although it seems quite endless right now. I'll keep ya updated.
- Dennis