Author: Dragon

After saying goodbye to Nora, I spent a couple days camping in Turangi, then caught a hitch to Lake Taupo with a cool Mauri guy. He dropped me off on the main promenade along the lake, and I booked a few nights at the Haka Lodge hostel.

Then I took the bus as far north as I could go, and caught a hitch with a nice woman into another small volcanic lake town of Rotorua, famous for all its hot springs. She was a Jehovas Witness, and it was fun hearing about what she believes.

From there, I booked a room at the Funky Green hostel, hit the supermarket for some fresh food, and went there to crash into bed for some more R&R.

While there, I met a girl named Maureen who had just finished the Appalachian trail in November, and had been in Hawaii for 2 months. She had just arrived in New Zealand before heading back to the states to hike the PCT in April. We decided to partner up and go do the Terawera trail to Hot Water Beach on Terawera Lake. We spent an evening with Aaron and his family, who she had been traveling with since arriving in the country a week ago. Together, we visited the Redwood forest in Rotorua, and then stayed up late talking about everything under the sun. Aaron was a lawyer in Tillamook, Oregon, and it was nice to talk with someone who knew about my old home.

The next day, Maureen and I would’ve caught the bus a few kilometers out of Rotorua, but it swerved past us without stopping, so we just walked to the road to the Trailhead instead. An old fella on a bike gave us the tip to walk into the woods and pick up a nice walking trail off the highway. Once there, we got an immediate hitch in the camper van of this guy from South Africa, who was living in the Terawera village with his wife there.

He took us all the way to the trailhead. Along the way, we passed a hitchhiker that was just a hundred meters up from us. We laughed, because we probably took his ride, hah! I’m sure he ended up making it.

We had lunch and then set out on the 15km Terawera Trail to Hot Water Beach. A few hours of nice smooth forest walking and we were there, with our feet in the springs. There were two streams flowing into the lake that were practically boiling, at around 70 and 80 degrees Celsius. This makes for incredibly enjoyable swimming, as there are little pockets of hot and cold water all about the shore, that you can mix and meander around to find the temperature pocket of your liking.

We met the fella that had been hitch hiking ahead of us as well, his name was Joe, an 18yo student from England who had just finished high school. It was fun watching him cook his pasta dinner in the boiling stream. The camp warden, Jason, was super talkative. He told us he often slow cooks roasts at the spring over the course of 12 to 24 hours. He lives on a boat there at the hot water beach, which sounds like paradise.

The next day, we took a shuttle boat back to Terawera trailhead, and an older woman was nice enough to give us a ride all the way back into Rotorua. Maureen, Joe, and I bought some food and drinks at the supermarket, and then walked down the road to the bus stop, where we said goodbye to Joe. Maureen and I took the bus as far North out of town as we could go, and then we stuck out our thumbs, looking for a ride an hour north to the lovely beach town of Tauranga.

Within ten minutes, a big ol dirty logging/landscaping rig pulled off the road. The two guys inside, Ben and his boss Tony, were nice enough to give us a ride right into town. Ben was a younger guy who was super into motocross and dreamed of competing in the american league, despiite that he had broken some 16 bones in his practice of the sport. What dedication! Or maybe stupidity! Oh well, you often can’t tell the difference in the aftermath. Tony had moved to New Zealand from Mexico some 30 years ago, and had just started his own arborist company. They were both super nice, and Ben even gave us some drinks on the road. We were dropped off right in the middle of Tauranga, and hopped on the bus to the beach below Mt. Maunganui, the most commanding mountain in this region at about 1,000 feet above the ocean below. We booked a night at the holiday park there (we probably got the worst possible spot and it was super expensive) and then we had some drinks at the beach, before jumping in the hot pools right next door to our camp for the following 2 hours.

As I said, the pitch was not ideal for campers, as we were put right next to basically a big air conditioning unit that was literally running allllll night. It sucked. I was hardly able to catch a few hours of sleep with earplugs despite the noise.

The next day, we ran up Mt. Maunganui and got all the great views, and then ran back down to camp and packed up. We hopped on a couple of buses to make it most of the way out of Tauranga, and then within a few moments of walking down the highway to hitchhike, a car pulls over and beckons us on! We weren’t even hitchhiking yet, and we already got a ride, haha, what! The guy and his girlfriend who picked us up said they loved hitchhikers, and they were headed to Auckland after a pleasant evening taking their car to a “skid” meeting, where apparently people try to get the best skids. I don’t pretend to understand the appeal of burning up your tires, but hey, I can’t complain about the ride! They helped us all the way to Waihi, the beginning of the Coramandel Peninsula, a beautiful section of the North Island complete with beautiful coastal mountains, forest, beaches, hot springs, and all the other stuff that hikers like us love.

In Waihi, we waited about an hour for a ride on the scenic coastal highway, and then took a break for lunch in the gas station there. The second time we tried, we walked farther down the road out of town to the East, and after a half an hour, an older man circled back around and offered to take us to Whangamata! I was super sleepy during the ride, but apparently Maureen was interesting enough in talking to the old guy, and he offered to let us stay at his beach house in town for a couple nights! I was skeptical at first, but he turned out to be a really nice guy who had retired from a life working Logistics for Old Spice in Auckland. He lives at this beach house with his wife Sue and son, Jeremy. Oh, and when he wanted to say “a lot!” he would say “Choccalocca!” Lol!

We had a splendid time meeting them and really soaking in the relaxation on the Whangamata beach, going swimming and body boarding through the waves. They took us out for dinner, and their son really impressed us with his extensive knowledge on every possible topic. He seemed to have a photographic memory.

Finally, Jeremy offered us a ride all the way an hour north along the peninsula to Hot Water Beach, our next target destination. We really couldn’t thank them enough for their hospitality and kindness towards these two absolute strangers that they picked up on the highway.

At Hot Water Beach, we walked along the beach and found the spot where everyone was digging holes to try to make enough hot water come in to make a spa bath. It seemed like a lost cause in many of their cases, much like the gold rush, haha. A lot of people were digging in the wrong places, or all their hard work was washed away by the tide. A few people had some really nice pools going, but it seemed unworth the effort, and Maureen and I were content just watching and comandeering some of the abandoned pools dug by others. Of course, the shovel rental business was booming there!

Later that evening, we caught the beach bus further up the Peninsula to the Ferry Landing, where a short ferry takes you across the river to the town of Whitianga. Of course, the camping rates were outrageous ($20 per person to camp) so Maureen and I decided to hike up a nice trail on the forested side of the river, and we ended up finding a perfect place to stealth camp.

The next day, we caught the ferry and spent lunch in Whitianga. Around 2pm, we walked out of town and caught a ride with a fella going to Coromandel, the principle touristy town of the peninsula and the gateway to the gravel roads that lead to the most unspoiled of the natural resources on the Peninsula.

We booked a room at the Tui Hostel there, and us splitting the private double room actually cost less than individually buying a bunk in the 8 bed dorms! Score! There’s definitely a host of benefits of traveling with a partner or two, especially if you’re trying to travel budgetwise.

At the hostel, we met an older guy named Reg, who invited us to ride with him up the dirt roads to the tip of the Coromandel peninsula, where the greatest beauties of this region lie. So we joined up with him, and spent the next few days driving up the Peninsula, walking the Coromandel Trail, and camping at Port Jackson, a gorgeous campsite straddling a beach (our site was just a few meters from the ocean at high tide), with views of New Zealand’s Barrier Islands looming in the distance.

Finally, we drove back to Coromandel, and then an hour south to the town of Thames. We thought about doing the hike to the Pinnacles, but it seemed a little overblown for tourists and we decided rather to spend a pleasant evening after dinner in town at the Dickson’s Holiday Park, where we had some beers and played cards (Gin Rummy, Delicious Barbeque, etc) until late.

The next day, we ran into Thames and enjoyed their Saturday street market, and then said goodbye to Reg, as he dropped us off in Kopu on the highway to Auckland, before he headed down to Tauranga for a week of Woofing before going to pick up his son for holiday.

Within 10 minutes, we got a ride from a local Auckland farmer and industrial real estate guy, who drove us as far as 35km outside of the city center.

Then, within a few moments of sticking out our thumbs, a Tongan fella named Steven pulled off out of his way and gave us a ride all the way into downtown Auckland, while giving us history lessons on the Tongan islands and telling us about his business carving whale bones. He even bought us drinks and wouldn’t accept gas money. I was really blown away by his kindness and his genuinely nice personality.

Back in Auckland, Maureen and I spent one night at the BK Hostel before she caught a plane down to the South Island in Queenstown, to start the real part of her New Zealand adventures.

And as for me, I spent another night at the hostel before catching a bus to the Auckland Airport, from where I have typed this last blog post. I said it best on Social Media, so here’s an excerpt from there:

Flying back to the States tomorrow. Goodbye to everyone I met along the way, you all made the journey more memorable, fun, bearable. Farewell to the Pyrénées, the Alps, and the South Island, where pieces of my heart will forever remain. So long to all the storms of lightning and thunder, the snow, hail, and driving winds, the freezing rain and the intense sun, you showed me some of what a water-based Earthling can endure. Au revoir to all the surging river crossings of New Zealand and the glacier-laden alpine cols of France, you thrilled and adrenalized and pushed me well beyond my hiking comfort zone. Each strife was rewarded in turn by the most spectacular scenery I have ever borne witness to. I’ll never forget the kindnesses of strangers, the sunsets, the sound of the ocean, finding happiness with relationships, friendships, and experiences, rather than material goods. This is the end.

Having made it safely across the Cook Strait and back to the North Island, Nora and I made our way to a hostel in Wellington. We had a couple of pretty weird nights at really trashy hostels, pretty much the worst I’ve ever been in, but I don’t feel the need to recount that to all of you! Wellington certainly made up for this faux pas by being all around charming in every other way.

The next day, got some delicious Thai food (fried rice, mm!) and then we took a trip to the New Zealand Museum and checked out the WWI exhibit on the ANZAC troops who fought against the Turks in Africa. It was a brutally senseless battle with massive casualties on both sides and no strategic gains of any kind. Otherwise, we enjoyed checking out all the other facets of New Zealand history, from the Maori culture, the colonization, and the ongoing exploits of current day kiwis.

After a healthy dose of culturization, we swung by the supermarket, grabbed a couple bottles of wine, and went down to the waterfront to hang out for a bit and enjoy the wonderful weather.

The next day, after a particularly terrible stay at the Rosemere Hostel, we hopped on a train as far out of town as we could make it, for about $8 a piece. Having made it the first hour of the way, we then took to sticking out our thumbs to cover the rest of the distance. Our target, about 4 hours distant, was the Tongariro National Park, where we were all resupplied and ready to do the 70km “Round the Mountain” trail. You might recognize some of it, it’s where they shot the Mt. Doom scenes from Lord of the Rings.

So, soon after touching down in Paraparaumu, we walked down the highway and got just about the first car to stop and offer us a ride! The driver was a younger guy in his early 20s, with an unmistakably rural character. His use of slurs and slang was such that you might only see it once in some movie of what country New Zealand people talk about.

Despite the fact that his car almost ran out of gas (“C’mon you’re a Honda! You should be able to run on an oily rag!!” and who could forget– ” Row! ROW!!!”), told us about his time in jail after he robbed his ex-boss of money that he was owed, AND toted us along to a less-than-legal rendez-vous with a purveyor of plants, he did finally get us to the highway on the far side of Levin. We said our goodbyes, and Nora and I had a good laugh about all of the crazy BS that we had just gone through, while simultaneously thanking the stars that we were alive and free again.

There was another girl who showed up just after us, who was hitchhiking as well! It’s always nice to have some camraderie when hitching. She hitched up the road from us and got a ride pretty quick, and we were almost jealous, but just then, a huge semi truck pulled off and beckoned us in! Score! Who knows if he would’ve stopped had the girl not gotten the first car that passed by.

The fella behind the wheel of the truck was a true intellectual, seriously curious and wanting, craving to learn about so many different things. He was really a joy to ride with, and got us a good 2 hours more down the road, all the way to Waiouru. From here, we split ways, and it was about 2pm in the afternoon. We were making pretty good time, and we were already within eye-sight of the magnificent Mt. Ruapehu, the huge volcanic mountain that we would spend the next few days hiking around.

From here, we got a quick ride with a woman driving to her lifestyle block farm in Ohakune, and finally, a dad and his two young sons stopped and drove us all the way up the mountain to Whakapapa (pronounced “FAKAPAPA”)! Joyous day!

It was about 5PM, and after a fair amount of kicking around, we got started on the first leg around Mt. Ruapehu.

Finally, with the sun going down, we decided to camp right in the shadow of Mt. Doom, about 100m off trail so that no one would see us (you may or may not have had to pre-book campsites, but whatever! This is the wilderness, damnit. Get your pencil-pushing rules outta here!)

I spent a solid hour running up and down a big canyon near our camp looking for some trace of water, and finally made it back to Nora just before total darkness, with enough time to get my tent up before pulling out the headlamp. We made dinner, and enjoyed the rising of the Super Blood Wolf Moon! Badass!

They dropped us of in Turangi, where Nora and I stopped into a steakhouse for a burger dinner.

At last, it was time for us to say goodbye. Nora and I had been hiking together for over a month, so it was definitely an emotional moment. We had shared so many struggles and accomplishments and beautiful miles of trail! And now I had to make my own decisions! Damn!

We hugged, she put her old beat up boots in the trash at the countdown supermarket, and we parted ways. I immediately started walking towards the local campground, and she waved from her hitchhike’s car as they drove past.

With four days of food in our packs and a healthy 16 hours of town time behind us, Nora and I walked a couple kilometers from the hostel to the main highway North towards Havelock, and we stuck out our thumbs. I laughed as a big rig passed us, thinking it was impossible to get a ride with one of them, but lo and behold! A huge double-long 18-wheeler stopped and beckoned us in. The driver was headed all the way to Picton for the ferry to Wellington, and we were happy to have our one ride to pick the trail back up. And when we finally made it to Havelock, there was a girl trying to hitchhike the same way as the truck. “Send her on over, I’ll take her” said the truck driver. She was also hiking the Te Araroa, and was grateful for the ride into Glenham to resupply.

So just like that, we picked the trail back up, walking a nicely graded bike trail up and around the mountains, with great views of the sounds that we were about to hike into.

We trekked right through Anakiwa, where the Queen Charlotte Track picks up. The views of the clear blue ocean water filling the valleys of this mountain range were extravagant and unforgettable. We stayed the first night camped at a eco-holiday park called Mistletoe Bay. We drank one of our beers and some wine that we had toted to celebrate our final days on the South Island Te Araroa trail.

The next day was a pretty hot one. We walked up to the Onahau lookout, one of the more scenic points at 1,200 feet above the water below.

Then we made a small detour down to Cowshed Campground to collect some water and have lunch. There was a chance the next two ridgeline camps were out of water, so we carried a few liters to be sure.

Then, back up to the trail for some more cruisy kilometers to Black Rock Camp, and finally on into the shelter and Bay of Many Coves Campground. The view from here was great, and Nora and I spent the sunset hours drinking beer and wine, making dinner, and playing cards on our luxurious picnic table.

We had a pretty short walk the next day to Madsen’s camp, where we were excited to lay in the hammocks provided at the site and soak up some sun next to the sounds. We stopped into a little resort for some strawberry milkshakes around lunchtime, then knocked out the last kilometers to Madsen’s Camp.

Madsen was nice enough to lend us his kayaks, and also cooked up a few of the mussels that we had collected from the nearby rocky outcrops. Lastly, he let us try some of the liquor that he makes and distills on site. It was delicious! One, a whiskey, and the other, a coffee liquor. A great place to visit for our last campsite on the Te Araroa.

The last day, we hiked the last 18km to Ship Cove, the Northern terminus of the South Island Te Araroa trail. We were reluctant to get there, and joked about possibly turning around and just resuming the hike going the opposite direction, southbound.

But then we arrived, and it would’ve been impossible to dampen our good spirits. We caught the 3 o’clock mailboat ferry tour back into Picton, where we had a great feast with all the things we had been craving on the trail. Finally, we ended the evening with a soak in the cedar hot tub at our hostel, paired with some delicious mimosas. What a way to end the trail! I was glad I had someone to share the finish with.

Now, we will catch the ferry to Wellington, and then hitchhike 350km up to Tongariro National Park to do the trek around Mt. Ruapehu. Stay tuned!

After a couple lovely nights at the Honeysuckle House Hostel in Nelson, I hitched a ride with my friend Nora to Marahau, the start of the Abel Tasman Great Walk, which meanders along some of the best beaches in all of New Zealand.

The first day, we knocked out most of the inland trail, part of the 90km loop that we were doing to see all of the AT National Park. There was about 1,000m of climbing this first day on decent trail, although it was a bit dull as there were not really any views and the trail was very coarse, with roots and rocks jutting out under just about every step. We passed the Castle Rocks hut for lunch, then onto the Moa Park shelter, and finally, we made it to Awapoto Hut in time for dinner. This place made the day’s hardships all worth it, as it had extraordinary views up and down the coast and of the sunset, being about 2,000 feet above the Pacific ocean below. And we had the whole 16 bunk hut to ourselves, which is always nice.

The next day, we had a pleasant stroll downhill to the Whariwharangi hut and beach, where we took lunch and met back up with the cruisy Abel Tasman trail, which was as smooth as any footpath I’ve ever been on.

We rode this another few kilometers to Mutton Cove, our camp for the night, on a little bluff just above the beach right up against the calm ocean. We had a nice time laying out on the beach, swimming, and playing cards with some guys names Liam and Rick who were also camping there that night. We played on a picnic table that we moved under a big cedar tree, which made adequate shelter from the big rainfall happening at the moment.

The next day, we made the short walk to Oretihuti beach and were there by 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

Finally, the last day, we walked back to the trailhead at Marahau and hitched back into town. I lost Nora after I left in the morning and we apparently both spent the whole day not sure if we were supposed to be waiting for or trying to catch up with each other.

In any case, I made it to Anchorage Beach for lunch, checked out the Cleopatra pool and rock water slide, and walked out to the town around 5pm.

I got a pretty quick hitch with a group of blokes from the UK who were here on vacation, though they had spent much of their time working on winery farms and couldn’t say enough bad things about the laborious days they suffered. We had some great music on the ride back to Nelson, and I was thankful to get dropped off just a block away from my favorite hostel in NZ, the Honeysuckle House. I arrived, walked through the house, and sat in the back yard, before seeing Nora in the bedroom and having a great reunion catching up on our super different and similar adventures that day. Later, we went out for dinner, and picked up some beer and wine for the celebration of finishing the Abel Tasman trail. All in all a pretty sweet diversion and distraction from ending the Te Araroa.

From here, we will hitch to Havelock and pick up the Queen Charlotte Track through the Marlborough Sounds, 90km to Ship Cove, the Northern Terminus of our South Island Te Araroa adventure. Stay tuned!

I’ll keep this post short and leave it to the pictures to do most of the talking. I packed up 7 days of food for the Richmond Ranges and said goodbye to beautiful St. Arnaud. I stuck out my thumb and the first truck that drove by gave me a ride down the highway 11km to the trailhead. 6km of hiking later, I made it to Red Hills Hut, where I was going to hike the Red Hills Ridge, an unmarked Bush-and-boulder bashing route up to the highest point of the Richmond Ranges (1,790m). There were a couple guys there who said I could not possibly do the hike in less than 14 hours, and then I did it in 8 and a half, lol. It was super brutal, the route was mostly tussock and boulder hopping without any markers, and the rocks were all corroded and as sharp as knives or cheese graters.

At the basin below Red “Hill”, I descended to the valley and walked the rest of the way up to the pass that led to Top Wairoa Hut. I got there around 7pm and had the whole place to myself. Really an extraordinary hike but I would not recommend it to non-masochistic hikers, lol.

The next day, Nora and Jake caught up and we had lunch at the hut and then walked down the Wairoa river to MidWairoa hut. We played some cards all afternoon with another section hiker.

The next day, there was a 1,000m climb up to a nice ridge, and then a walk along it to the Rintoul hut just below one of the hardest sections of the Te Araroa. We stayed the night there.

The following day was an amazing collage of ridge walking, climbing up down and around at least 5 different summits, all above treeline with views of the Tasman Bay in the distance. The best view was certainly just before the descent to Starveall Hut, where the three of us had the whole beautiful place to ourselves.

The next day, I walked down to Hacket Hut (-1,000m) and then back up to the ridge at Rock’s Hut (+700m). Again, I had the hut all to myself, as I was gonna walk out to Nelson 20km tomorrow on the Dunn Mountain trail, while my friends carried on to Pelorus Bridge on the official TA route and then hitched to town.

Finally, the 6th day out of St. Arnaud, the track was a nice graded cycle trail on the ridge of Dunn Mountain, originally a rail track for mining operations. It was really cruisy and I made it to the incredible Honeysuckle house hostel by 3pm.

Now, Nora and I prepare to take on the incredible Abel Tasman beach great walk / inland trail loop. More to come, stay tuned!