Diary - Km 1715.4
North Island completed!
Somehow it doesn’t feel like I’ve walked a lot. Not just because I’ve hitched some and canoed some. It was a lot of towns. And with towns come showers, and coffees, and beds, and abundance of food, so it never really felt like a challenge. I was never too hungry, too dirty, too isolated or too tired. It felt more like a very extended day hike.
North Island was finished with the Tararua mountain range and probably the biggest group of hikers I have ever been part of. I don’t even know how many of us are staying in this airbnb now. 8ish?
We decided to start the Tararuas by taking a shortcut. What a great idea. When will I learn that lesson about shortcuts? It was a fun jungle crossfit session that involved some root and rock climbing, descending a rope, river crossing, the now-usual amounts of mud avoiding, and apparently over 2000 elevation in a day. Definitely tougher than the real route. It was one of the most beautiful forests so far though, so no regrets. I’d probably do that all over again and then complain about how tough it was again.
Then we went up on ridges to the normal TA route.
The Tararua range are known for their unpredictable weather and big winds.
Me before the Tararuas: “I mean okay, it could get rainy or a bit windy, but really, how scary can these ridges be?”
Me on one of these ridges: “Daaaaamn I will fly off this crazy ridge if the wind gets any stronger, my fingers are freezing, and why the hell are my gloves so far down the bottom of the bag?! I’ll race you down this hill, hypothermia!” I was pushed over from side to side and that wasn’t even a strong wind day. Managed to not get knocked to my knees though, so take that, wind, I win.
To sum up this island I’ll quote one TA hiker I’ve met in the woods some time ago: “I thought it was going to be a pleasant hike. It is not a pleasant hike.”
Good thing I didn’t expect it to be a pleasant hike. I’m actually enjoying it.
Some stats for those who’s interested:
Km walked: 1024.4
Km bussed: 250
Km boated/canoed: 205
Km hitched: 154
Km biked: 82
Total Money spent (excluding flights and gear): 3010 eur (out of that: 1110 on food, 668 on accommodation, 207 on buses, 1025 on other things like bike rent, canoes, donations etc)
