The more you ask how much longer it will take, the longer the journey seems.
~ Maori Proverb ~
So - it's been a while - and, yes, we have started our journey. Since Auckland we spent a bit of time up in Paihia, a quaint little tourist beach town in the famous Bay of Islands. Kirstin, Alex and I spent some time on the beach, had a day over in Russell (most of it inside a cafe as it was bloody cold and rainy outside) and primarily hung around our new found temporary home of Omri's. It was nice to have a little break before Alex and I said our goodbyes to Kirstin at Cape Reinga and set off on the journey that will surely change our life forever.
October 15/01
DAY #1 . 26 km . Song = "YMCA" . Weather = CLOUDY, WINDY & DRIZZLE
It's our first offiicial day and it feels brilliant. Starting at 7 a.m. Alex and I got ready at the campsite slightly south of Cape Reinga and set out with Chen (Israel) who decided to join us for the day. As I said, it was brilliant. Absolutely surreal to be out there and doing what we said we'd do for the past however many months. And Day #1 is done. Only an expected 149 to go.
As it were, today we started by just STARTING to trek to our starting point. Two hours later we made it there - to the lighthouse - after a grueling wake up call of sweating our way up and down the many hills to get to Cape Reinga. And then Alex had us go right down to the lighthouse so we could say that we actually started at the very northern tip of New Zealand. It was worth it.
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| At least one starts to catch on to the new sport |
All of that could have never even been possible without the people we met at Omri's house yesterday. Three Israeli and two Czech guys had come to stay the night before and happened to have plans to head towards Cape Reinga yesterday after checking out the waterfalls just outside of Paihia. Fortunately for us they were able and willing to take the three of us girls (myself, Alex and Kirstin) as well as Chen up North.
Yesterday morning we all piled into the guys' vans after packing up our things and having a few last minutes of luxury in front of the TV. From there we headed in the direction of Kerikeri, stopping at the supposedly amazing waterfalls on the way. When we got there we didn't so much as even stop to look at them as we did simply glance at the minuscule falls through the windows of the van and drive on by. We figured there was bigger and better things to be spending our time looking at in New Zealand.
From there we made it to Kerikeri and our posse of nine found our way to an Israel restaurant. Definitely delicious and I left with dreams of wanting to travel there in the future.
Eventually we made it to Cape Reinga, but not before the boys did a slight detour to 90 Mile Beach. They wanted to see if they could drive the van on the shoreline while towing someone behind riding a skateboard with no wheels. It was only slightly successful, but we all left after having a good laugh.
By the time we arrived at the campground (after taking a peak at the lighthouse at Cape Reinga during sunset) it was dark and we all were tired and hungry. I couldn't wait any longer so after we set up camp I ate a muesli bar and went to bed where I drifted in and out of a restless sleep.
And so there's today. Once we eventually reached our starting point, the three of us set out to make our first steps along Te Araroa Trail (Chen had decided to join us for the next day or two). We went up and down as we stuck to the coastline hoping for a glimpse of 90 Mile Beach. It eventually happened at 2:30 p.m. We had made it to the beach that would take us three days to complete.
As we got all settled at our campsite near the beach, another trekker came down the set of stairs we had just descended and joined us. He then introduced himself as Dirk from Netherlands and proceeded to inform us that he, too, was trekking Te Araroa Trail. We had found our first trail friend.
After much discussion over comparing each others preparations, equipment choices and hopes in trekking the trail, we decided that the four of us would set out in the morning to continue start our journey along 90 Mile Beach together. At 7 p.m. here I am now ready to get some sleep and set out early to continue the adventure.
Life is good.
Day #1 - complete.
October 16/10
DAY #2 . 23 km . Song = "SAMSUNG RINGTONE" . Weather = CLOUDY then SUNNY
Alex and I were off with a start today. Kind of. Our posse of three had added one more contender yesterday, Dirk (Netherlands), who happened to declare that he, too, is doing Te Araroa Trail. Go team. Unfortunately, he ran a little late this morning as Dirk hadn't woken up on time for us all to leave at 7 a.m. so we left at 7:30 a.m. It's not like it's a race.
Chen, Dirk, Alex and I set off along the beach like four musketeers - it was our first of three days of beach walking and we had a small hope that we might be able to complete it in two. 84 km that is. But first we had to get water. Our campsite last night was by the ocean, but with no fresh water source accessible we had to ration what we had left until we passed the next stream. And sure enough, we managed to find the first river shortly into our journey. It was time to fill up.
The toughest part of 90 Mile Beach is not that it's 90 Miles (in fact - it's only about 60 miles) or that it's long at all. The toughest part is that there's no guarantee of of where one can find water. So at our first river we topped up all our bottles of water - Alex and me loading up at 6 litres each (each litre of water weighs about 1kg). It was here that we said our goodbyes to Chen as he was going a different route and then the three of us remaining set off on our extended beach walk.
And so we walked. As the day grew on, I began to realize that what we were doing gave a whole new meaning to enjoying "long walks on the beach." This was by far the longest walk I have ever done on a beach and I still have two more days of it to look forward to. Joy.
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| Me, Alex and Chen setting off on Day #1 |
Which brought me to the though of what we are actually doing. 3000 km. Across New Zealand. When we were at the lighthouse at Cape Reinga there was the famous directional/distance pole that informed us Bluff was a mear 1452 km aay. In otherwords, if a string was stretched from one end to the other of New Zealand, this is the length it would be. That also means that though we are walking from one end to the other of New Zealand, the trail will actually take us on a journey over twice the distance.
It is with these thoughts that makes me wonder how we will fare in the long run on this journey. It is only Day #2 and already the blisters are starting to show. On Alex's feet at any rate. I have been fortunate enough not to get them yet, but I am sure I will soon enough. Three solid days of repetitive motion with the feet while carrying a heavy pack can do wonders when it comes to the idea of a small blister. Alex is a prime example as her count is up over 10 already. Ouch.
The beach isn't all that bad though. It IS pretty - though there are few landmarks along the way to let us know how far we've gone. We can only guess - such as what will make tomorrow particularly tough as we are doing the middle section of the beach. We will neither be able to distinguish a starting or ending point as we go. Should be fun. At the very least we have numerous amounts of tour buses entertaining us as they zip past us. Or should I say - we entertain them. I am sure that with the 20 minutes it probably takes them to drive the beach that takes us three days to walk we are the most entertaining species to look at. There isn't much else.
At the very least, we have made it to a gorgeous campsite here by the beach and the sun has decided to come out and dry off all our clothes that were made wet earlier on by the rain. I even had the chance to wash a few pieces in a vain attempt to minimize the already growing stench that's worked into the fabric. My only hope for tomorrow is that maybe - just maybe - the sun will stay out all day. Fingers are crossed.
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