I've been a little behind on keeping up with our blog so please excuse that this collection might be a bit brief. Upside is that I have access to a computer so spell check and sentence structure should improve with the big screen...I hope :)
We left Ruakaka camp ground loaded down with 6 days worth of provisions.
In hindsight we brought too much food-oops! Damn trail appetite had too much of a say in the grocery store at Ruakaka.
Packs definitely felt heavier this time around and my collar bones did not like it! Cody's feet were a little tender too.
We had a fair bit of beach walking to do today, the novelty had definitely worn off after 90 mile beach. Lots of wind as per the norm of these beach walks. At least we found some entertainment. First skink of the trail. New Zealand has many skink and gecko species but this one we thought was a bit unusually since we found him right next to the surf.
While on the trail we ran into a guy who happened to be carrying a truck load of bull semen. What a coincidence since Cody's family has been working with bull semen collection for about 60 years in Texas. After some shop talk our new friend gave us some bull semen samples which were are now still carrying with us- I'm sure ultralight enthusiasts are shaking their heads but this little souvenir is well worth it. How many thru hikers can say they carried bull semen with them on the trail?
We got a bit lost around the Bream Tail track (more signage would be nice) and ended up on the hwy where we got a hitch into Mangawhai heads. Unfortunately our hiker friend Shane that we had met previously and were tailing on the trail was at the next campsite down. Shane had been tracking our boot prints until he surpassed us, now its our turn to track him.
December 2nd: Mangawhai Heads to Govan Wilson to Dome Track.
The owner of the Mangawhai Heads Camp (Richard) was kind enough to give us a dingy ride across the inlet to the other side of the beach so we could bypass some road walking. We started bright and early at 7:30am.
As he rowed he told me that Orcas had been in the inlet chasing stingray when the tide was high last Thursday. We had only missed them by a few days! On the beach we found remnants of the Killer whales feast- half eaten stingrays along the beach. I was very excited to pick up a half eaten smelly stingray and show it off to the camera. Yes I know my level of enthusiasm is gross- Don't worry Mom I was sure to wipe my smelly fish hands on my clothes. (Reference to being 5yrs old and rubbing fish hands on my nice dress at Sea World)
After the beach section we climbed up towards the dome track and made friends with a very hairy pony along the way. We wanted to work out a work trade for apples with him if he would just carry our backpacks for us. He didn't seem enthused so we carried on- heavy packs and all.
Today was our longest day yet hiking from 7:30 am till 9:30 pm. We had a hard time finding a suitable place to pitch up the tent since most of the area we were hiking is was private.
Added bonus my sleeping pad had acquired a slow leak a few days ago which meant that it had to be blown up several times throughout the night. Luckily I'm a pretty easy sleeper so this didn't bother me much. I'll ditch the pad in Auckland.
December 3rd: Govan Wilson/Dome track to Sheep World Camp
We awoke at 5 am and and tackled the track which was supposed to be a bear.
Not as bad as what we had thought- mud, steep ups and downs, nothing out of the ordinary. Lots of stairs-thank goodness the last half of the track was well manicured as it was a steep decent to the Top of the Dome Cafe.
We arrived there at 2pm and decided to have lunch- well worth it! Best lunch we've had so far, and the pet rooster was a nice touch. The owner gave us a lift to the camp down the way. More trail magic :)
Mike (possibly the friendliest man in New Zealand) was acting as groundskeeper while the owner was away. Since the owner had left abruptly and gave Mike very little instruction he wasn't able to give us the cabin we wanted (no keys) or give us keys to the showers. Instead Mike let us use his personal shower, internet, and phone so we could plan the next leg of our trip. Mike we learned was actually British but had fallen in love with New Zealand and decided to stay. We slept 12 hours that night which was much needed after the lack of sleep from the previous nights.
Friendly cat at the campground, she was abandoned by a van years ago. The camp took her in and gave her a good home
December 4th: Sheep World Camp to Puhoi
Mike gave us a ride back up to the Top of the Dome Cafe where we had probably the best breakfast of the trip. The Owners wife is the chef, and has a natural gift with really fresh good home cooking. After breakfast the owner gave us a ride to the next trail head since the Dome to Morris Hill route was closed for logging (only open 4pm to 7am, which is ridiculous)
We hit the trail and headed to Puhoi, stopping at a cheese factory along the way and ate some delicious yogurt and bread with 7 year old cheddar. I hit my sharp cheddar tolerance with that cheese and since then Cody and I have been sticking to milder cheeses.
Inside the factory
Lance and Bridgette are two wonderful hosts of TA walkers and let us stay in their spare bedroom above the garage. Lance is a New Zealander and his wife Bridgette is from Austria. Very gracious hosts, we really appreciated the tea and good conversation- and of course the warm roof over our heads!
Lance feeding the wild dove around his house.
December 5th: Puhoi to Takapuna
We had quite a long day ahead of us so Lance offered to give us a ride to bypass the 7km river portion of the trip. We didn't want to pay 100$ for kayak rental and were not keen on walking the dangerous windy hwy so the lift was VERY appreciated.
Most of the day was spent walking in and out of the coastline. We took a detour to Albany in order to skip a deep river section. We had come up to it exactly at high tide and the notes indicated we would not be able to cross it comfortably. I was not keen on swimming with my pack and neither was Cody.
Part of the walk to Takapuna took us along a beach with some very interesting lava formations.
Most of the walk was through very densely populated beach front suburbs. Very beautiful, and kind of fun to walk through.
We arrived at Takapuna Holiday Park around 5:30. Not wanting to make dinner we headed up to the town and discovered the Pita Pit- Awesome cheap chain that offers very healthy stuffed pitas-they do not skimp on their veggies. Perfect for trail food since both of us have been missing out on a lot of good meals.
December 6th: Takapuna to Auckland
It was only a 9km walk to Fullers Ferry from Takapuna Holiday park. We only had one real goal today, a goal that we had been walking towards since we first started the trail.
When we were last in Auckland we discovered this awesome little farmers market that had the best almond croissants in the world. Last time we arrived at 10:30 and a kid in line before us bought all of them but one. We were determined to get there early and buy as many as we could.
When we boarded the Ferry we saw signs saying that we would be delayed because there was a big event going on in Auckland. After asking the ferry ticket holders they told us it was going to be a 2 day event called shift drifters. A very cool car drifting event that was to take place right in the heart of the city. Since it was going to go on on Sunday we went straight to the farmers market.
Barely making it in time to snag the last croissant- oh well. At least there was one left.
We bought lots of fresh veggies and gorged ourselves on fresh baked goods. Unknowingly we had missed the event because the ferry ticket holders had told us the wrong information (which seems to be a trend that we keep running into here)
If I could go back in time I would defiantly have picked the awesome free car drifting event over the worlds best croissant. The saying "you can have your cake and eat it too" comes to mind. Guess we weren't meant to have everything.
December 7th: Zero Day Auckland-Fun day
Still sore from missing the car event yesterday we were determined to have a fun zero day. And it was :)
We had a good nights sleep, a big breakfast, and went to the Auckland Zoo. The zoo had a lot to offer! and we spent the entire day learning about the different species of animals native to New Zealand. Of course they also had many animals that were not native- Elephants, Red panda, tigers, cheetahs ect. but the main goal for the day was to educate ourselves on attaching names to the sounds we were hearing late at night in the forests.
Turns out New Zealand only has one native mammal- It's a bat
Their geckos can have gestation periods that last up to a year
They have many flightless bird species- Kiwi, and the flightless parrot Kakapo (rarest parrot in the world) just to name a few.
The kiwi proved to be very elusive- even trapped in a small dark enclosure!
The New Zealand long fin eel (which we had seen previously in a stream) are some of the toughest freshwater animals. Swimming from ocean, up rivers, damns, and even small streams to complete their life cycles.
To sum it up New Zealand is filled with many strange birds, marine life, and geckos.
We finished off the night with a movie at the cinema down the street from our hostel. We saw Night Crawler which was very good-and creepy! Made me glad that I wasn't living in LA anymore.
Cinema observation: Movie theaters here are a lot nicer than in the states. Very comfortable, squishy chairs with plenty of space to veg out.
December 8th: Zero Day Auckland-
Planning the next leg of our trip and updating the blog. Will be splurging on an Indian restaurant later tonight which I am very much looking forward to.
