Saturday 31 October 2015

One More Sleep - first step tomorrow!!

It's been a funny sort of day today - the lull before the storm. We got up early to drive to Ahipara to drop off a resupply box which took us a good part of the day. I'm not sure whether I am nervous to start or just waiting. I am trying not to think too much about the 'whole' - it gets too overwhelming. I have been just trying to concentrate on the first section from Cape Reinga to Ahipara - big enough on its own as I will pass the 100km on the Ninety Mile Beach.

I'm packed and ready for a 5am start so we can be out the door for the two or so hour drive to Cape Reinga so we can start around low tide (will be a bit after).  I made more adjustments with this final pack (my tent is now attached to the outside), but I suspect it won't be the last change I make.

Pete has been a little forlorn today- he is worried but trying not to show it. I ended up having a chat with him because it was too hard worrying about his worrying! I told him that I know he is concerned that I have bitten off more than I can chew, but that his worrying doesn't help either of us. I need him to have confidence in me (at least confidence that I will call it quits if something goes terribly amiss), because that helps me have confidence in myself.

I think it has helped that we have 'touched' the trail in various places as we made our way North - Auckland, Orewa, Paihia and Ahipara. I have been able to point and say 'I walk along this road' or 'I will be walking in that forest'. It was also nice for him to see some of the campgrounds I will be staying at and to meet some of the people I will encounter. Ros and Hugh at Tide Song made us feel very welcome and were keen to talk about their experiences on the trail. It was good to meet them and I'm sure their positiveness was a balm for Pete.

The photos that I wanted to share with you aren't coming across from Google+ properly which is sufficiently irritating to take my mind off starting for a bit!

A wee beach  walk for the next few days!

Pigeon xx

PS We got quite a few sand fly bites on the river (and around the lake) and being sweet fleshy tourists reacted a bit so the bites became red and nasty and were super itchy when our legs got hot. We finally went to the chemist and got some cortisone cream - amazing stuff ! Cream wasn't even out of the box and my itchiness disappeared!

Touching the trail 

Wednesday 28 October 2015

Of Rivers and Lakes - October 27: 5 days to first step



3:00 am. I lay awake last night listening to the rain and the thunder. It wasn't the storm keeping me awake but the fact that I had to go to the toilet. And no, it wasn't the thought of getting out of my warm sleeping bag, putting on my raincoat and heading out to the drop toilet that was making me lie there...it was, as much as I hate to admit it, the thought of getting back up the ladder that was pinning me to the bunk. Getting down was easy but I was having a little trouble mastering the left butt cheek turn required to land on the edge of the bunk and not plummet to my doom to the floor below. I had already had several coaching sessions from various members of our walking party on the best way to deliver my self safely to the sleeping platform and the left butt cheek manoeuvre was definitely the most successful except when said cheek missed said platform entirely and I flayed around awkwardly trying to stop falling off the ladder. 

3:25 no good must pee.

Down, coat on, out, etc., back to hut, ladder... deep breath, right foot, left foot, swing butt to left, sit on edge - damn it! Nothing below left but cheek except yawning chasm! Hang on while remaining foot slips alarmingly on ladder rung! Launch myself with super human effort,  accompanied by loud guttural noise that would make any tennis pro proud! Contact! 'Made it' I say to Pete. 'You getting up to go to toilet? ' he says.

My bunk battles happened on our last night of the Lake Waikaremoana walk  - 3rd day in, before walking up to Bald Knob in the morning and then down from the Panekiri Bluff to where the bus would collect us for the Rotorua return trip.

From Waitarere Beach we had travelled up to Ohakune to Canoe Safaris who took us down the Whanganui - 4 days of paddling, steep gorges, many (very cute) feral goats, pretty waterfalls, ancient waterways and a few rapids just to keep things interesting! Off to Rotorua for the night before being collected by the Walking Legends boys who were looking after us along the Lake Waikaremoana track. The Lake Waikaremoana track was stunning - beautiful lake vistas and surreal forests. Do them both!

Some impressions:

The Whanganui is an old river (you can feel it). It is a class 2 river in terms of rapids which means it is suitable for beginner/intermediate. We certainly didn't find it too scary (but we did have awesome teachers). It was mostly easy paddling, with plenty of time to just let the current carry us and enjoy the sunshine and the birds. We had some rain on the third night and the river was heavy and harder work after that. Don't forget at 50:50 (the wave) keep to the right side of the wave and then lean into the eddy as you come out. Last rapid before Pipriki head far right and don't turn left into the rapid until last minute.

On the third day at Lake Waikaremoana, after a fairly steep climb up Panekiri Bluff, you enter a cloud forest. There is no way you can convince me that this forest was not a unified entity that had its own pulse. I loved it.

Guides. We had the most amazing, patient, knowledgable, encouraging, funny, passionate, kind guides on both our trips. They were awesome. I wish I could distill them and give people a good dose of what they bring to the world- the world would be a better place.

Pigeon xx



























Saturday 17 October 2015

Don't forget the toilet paper! October 18: 13 days to first step




It's been a busy few days since we flew into Wellington on Thursday. We left Australia at some unearthly hour when all good bipeds should be asleep and I was running on empty when we touched down. Customs was a breeze, they were only interested in my tent and the man was friendly and keen to hear about what I was doing.

Wellington turned on some blue skies for us the next day and we took a stroll along the part of the TA trail that goes over Mt Victoria. Touched the TA sign and wondered when (and if) I would be back again to walk it for real.

We stayed at an awesome little backpackers called Gourmet stay and Chris, the manager, looked after us splendidly. Not the cheapest backpackers about, but a bit of a treat for Pete, who had his birthday on Friday - something to make up for dragging him all over Wellington to pick up more food and other bits and pieces for the trail.

The volume of food I have accumulated is worrying, not so much weight wise, but the physical space it takes up! I look at my little pack and wonder where it is all going to go. New pack name: The Tardis. 

 Be as if!

Loaded up the hire car and headed North for a couple of days to Waitarere Beach. We are staying at a place that has a kitchen. That way we can lay stuff out and sort it for the boxes. Powdered milk, sugar, trail mix 'buffet'... We spent all yesterday afternoon packing and sorting (assisted by the odd glass of wine).  Most things divied up according to plan, but there weren't enough snakes and I KNOW that will not turn out well when I get to the bag with only one!

Got it sorted much quicker than expected and went to bed feeling pretty good that we had got it all done and had already boxed the stuff for drop off along the way up to the Cape. Only the mail outs to do.

Woke up this morning to a very windy (read enough to blow me sideways) and rainy day, so decided to go for a walk in Waiterere Forest. The difference inside the trees was kind of eery like entering another reality - you could hear the tops of the trees banging together but it was calm and warm on the path beneath.

A few k's in, Pete turns to me and says, 'You didn't pack the toilet paper.'

Crap.

Pigeon xx











So much food!







Some of the trees were foaming at the bottom - not sure what this was






Dark in there!








 Wonder if we will make it back??


Tuesday 13 October 2015

Tying Up Loose Ends: 13 October - 18 days until first step

There was an interesting discussion on the Te Araroa Facebook pages today about planning and those that do (like me) and those who prefer to just start and see what unravels...

That made me think that planning is not just about what lies ahead but preparation for what (and who) you are leaving behind, your family and friends, the ones that will support you, your colleagues that will pick up the slack when you're not there.

The last couple of weeks have been bitter sweet because of this. I've had lunches with friends to say 'goodbye', to reassure them, and myself,  that I'm prepared as I can be and not likely to do anything too foolish. I went and saw 'Everest' with one and 'Walk in the Woods' with another. 'Everest' was disturbing and made me pack another layer for the South; 'Walk in the Woods' made me laugh and made me hope that, like Katz, I have eyes that can see a million stars.

The friends I have had lunch with are the solid friends, friendships that I know will last the tests of time and distance. They are the friends that will tell me to pick up 'that bloody pack' , dust myself off, and get myself together when things go awry on the trail.  Those friendships were made with dove tail joints and good glue. Heart friends.

There is also my partner Pete, whom I'm sure thought it was all just a passing whim that would  disappear if he ignored it enough. It didn't. He sighed and put on his stoic chin.  He is coming over to New Zealand to help me organise my boxes and see me off at Cape Reinga.  My planning has given him some confidence that I will be Ok - somethings like 'DO NOT hitchhike' unless it is an extreme emergency were negotiated and plans secured to enable all stakeholders to be satisfied.

My dog Jake, according to the Vet records, is 14 years and 4 months old. An old dog by any measure, an even older dog by border collie standards. I will be away for at least 4-5 months and that's a long time in dog eras. There is a very good chance that my dog will die when I am away. Tears my heart apart.

I'm told that my going is a career limiting move. Mmm...career limiting vs life limiting?

I spent the afternoon weeding the garden. Tomorrow I will mulch. Tying up the loose ends.

Pigeon xx

Saturday 3 October 2015

October 3 - 28 days until first step

Walked about 22km today both with and without load (carried base weight - 9kg), testing that knee in some sand. Not too shabby - no pain (mostly), although no real ascents. Just some short, sharp pinches which dodgy knee coped well with. Big sigh of relief and much praise to dodgy knee and then praise to good knee in case it felt left out! I will build back up to a full load over the coming weeks as will be carrying lots of water on Ninety Mile Beach because ground water's in short supply.  Apparently some of the tour buses sometimes chuck you a bottle- kick it to me!

Basically my prep has been shorter walks during the week before work (around the 5km mark but with a decent hill), then on the weekends do some extended stuff with my pack.  I'm finding that a short 5 minute break every 90 mins or so with a longer one for lunch is enough to keep my shoulders and legs happy especially if I remember to do some stretching - which I'm pretty useless at - both the remembering and the stretching!

Have started packing up food to bring across to New Zealand, not because I don't think I can get similar over there, just because I'm not sure they'll have the quantities on the shelf. Compared to other hikers I am probably sending/delivering more Resupply boxes than most as I know, at the end of a hiking day, the last thing I will want to do is grocery shop!!

Before I went shopping in Australia, I contacted NZ Quarantine to get an Ok to bring in the types of packaged food I was thinking of bringing.They were really helpful and even gave me the OK to take some food out of original packaging to save room - as long as I can tell customs what's in them.  Have also emailed Bivouac in Wellington as they said they would happily put aside some dehydrated meals (Back Country) so I can just pick up when I get in. I'm not using a lot of dehydrated stuff (mainly for the more remote parts in the South) because I find it really salty. I am trying to use 'real'
food which, as my feet tell me, is heavier but just may keep me saner in the long run (also means you don't need to carry as much water so a bit of give and take with weight). Ready- to-go meals like Jamie Oliver 'Lovely Lentils' and Rices of the World are on the menu, prepared with a handful of nuts or seeds to up the nutritional value. A typical daily graze looks a bit like this:

Breakfast: Muesli or porridge with a hot drink

Second breakfast: protein bar (eg Cliff, Kind or Carman)

Lunch: Some sort of wrap (peanut butter and banana leather or snow peas for example)

Afternoon snack: trail mix (banana chips; dates; Craisins; dried pineapple; snakes; nuts) or
something salty.

Dinner: carbohydrate heavy meal - 3minute pasta, Jamie Oliver pulses; Rices of the World with a hot drink (chai tea; hot chocolate).

Dessert: chocolate!!

Pigeon xx





Thursday 1 October 2015

1 October 2015 - 30 days to go to first step

Yesterday was my last day at work.
I now have about two weeks at home to get my self sorted, do a bit of walking and get my head in the right space before we fly to New Zealand.

Today's jobs:
Sewing up my shorts on the back seam and rear pockets. I obviously use the 'sit and slide' technique for descending quite frequently given where they were wearing.

Emailing Bivouac in Wellington to order some Back Country meals mainly for South Island so I can pick them up when we fly in.

Emailing my partner Pete to get him to print off the email, that I forgot to print, that I got from NZ Quarantine saying it was Ok to bring in some food, so I can give it to customs.

Cross checking trail notes against Kirstine's combined ones and just adding new bits.

Cleaning my shoes so they're Ok to bring into New Zealand.

Ditto my tent pegs.

Trying to cull some more stuff from my pack - lose a t-shirt; pack a smaller (no room for modesty) travel towel; and well really - just how many patches do I need for my thermarest?

(I seriously recommend practicing packing the gear you think you will bring. Then I recommend going out and buying some compression sacks so you can actually have a better chance of fitting the gear you want to bring in  your pack! Then put it on your back - carry it - apologise to your knees and wonder what on earth you were thinking,  get rid of stuff, then try again! Do this repeatedly.)

Spending time with my animals- just because.

Short walk - no load. My left knee is giving me grief following a bad foot placement descending steep stairs with a full load.  I am trying not to think about it too much. It is getting better - oh so slowly !

Pigeon xx

PS Got my palm read yesterday - apparently I won't die in New Zealand - well that's a relief...