walking – Joe Bloggs

An Unforgettable Journey

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020Tagged beach, bridge, bridges, brooks, bush, camping, cave, creeks, driftwood, flyingsolo, greatwalknz, greatwalks, heaphy, heaphybeach, heaphytrack, hills, lonetraveller, mountains, newzealand, nz, ocean, palms, river, rivers, solotravel, sunset, takahe, tracks, tramping, travel, travelling, valleys, walkingLeave a comment

DAY ONE

I began my journey with a shuttle bus from Takaka to the first hut at the beginning of the track, the Brown Hut. The bus arrived at 12pm and I got off the bus, grabbed my bag and headed off straight away.

Looking back at the shuttle after heading off

The first part of the track is a winding route that is on a gradual slope climbing up 915m, the track is mainly through the bush and is a pretty cool walk with great views of the valleys and hills in the distance.

I walked around 3.5 hours up and then stopped at the Aorere Shelter, which is the first campsite you could stop at, however I had booked into the Perry Saddle, I chilled out and ate my lunch before heading off to my final destination for the day. On the way I stopped of at Flanagan’s Corner viewpoint to take in the views, supposedly you can see Mt Taranaki on clear days but unfortunately it was pretty overcast. I arrived at Perry Saddle Hut and set up my tent before taking a walk around.

There was a small mountain spa further down the hill, which turned out to be just a small stream at the bottom of the hill but worth the 10-minute walk to get to it.

I chilled out and relaxed that evening before cooking my tea of which I failed pretty badly at as I boiled way to much water for my sachet of soup that it was pretty much still water after it was added, but if anything it is a lesson learned. I then went back to my tent and went to sleep, getting ready for the biggest and longest day of the trek.

DAY TWO

Day two arrived, I awoke around 3am freezing cold so I chilled out and I had my breakfast and then a small nap after I had warmed up. I packed up my tent and set off at around 10am to get to the James Mackay hut later that day.

I walked for about 1.5 hours through fields of golden grass and marshland, the valley here begins to widen around the Gouland Downs and you can see for miles. After 1.5 hours I arrived at the first hut, took a short break and then headed back off down the track before coming to some caves to which I explored a little before continuing on my journey.

I got to Saxon Hut an hour later and ate lunch, whilst I ate I watched a Takahe (endangered bird) search for his dinner.

I finished up and continued on my way. There’s an old pole with old and new boots tied on or nailed to it along the way, which looked pretty awesome.

Todays hike was 24.2km and you could see pretty far across the hills in the distance and I crossed plenty of streams and brooks.

I arrived at today’s destination at about 4pm, set up my tent on the decking provided which took longer than I expected, as I had to use rocks instead of pegs.

The area was pretty misty so there wasn’t much of a view. I cooked up my evening meal of mashed potato, peas and chicken with 3 Germans I had met on the track. We ate and then headed of to bed for the evening.

DAY THREE

In the morning I awoke, it was still pretty misty but you could see the mouth of the river, which is where I was heading for the day, I ate and then packed up my tent once again and headed off around 08:45. This was my most favorite day, not because it was practically all downhill but that it was through what looked like an enchanted forest and where I first met the famous West Coast sandflies.

There were some swing bridges to cross, one of which was 148.8m long and the largest suspended deck bridge built by the Department of Conservation.

There are sections on this part of the track that after heavy rain can be pretty flooded especially at high tide but luckily the day turned out to be pretty clear and sunny.

At this point you’re walking along the edge of the river and occasionally there would be a large clearing or small path down to a beach.

I was amazed at some of the trees in this forest as they are extremely large and magnificent. Further along I found a small cave which I went in as far as I could, unfortunately for me I later found out that the 3 Germans I met managed to get in further which just meant wading through a little water, but managed to see glowworms further into the cave.

Anyhow I arrived at the final hut, the Heaphy Hut at around 13:30 and set up my tent to dry it, as it was pretty wet from the previous night. I saw a helicopter land at the hut and then take of which was cool to see and according to some people it’s not something you see everyday whilst hiking a great walk. I then ventured onto the beach and had a quick wash in the river, as it had been 2.5 days since I had last had a shower. I chilled out on the beach and attempted to create a large driftwood house, unfortunately when I added the roof it was two top heavy and collapsed, I had spent around 3 hours on this already and decided to pack it in as I was pretty exhausted and had been attacked my hundreds of sandflies.

The only photo I got before it collapsed

The 3 German guys arrived and they showed me a video of them swimming in the river and footage of one of the guys being bitten by an eel, which was pretty funny for me but the guy then couldn’t walk and carry his pack so his mate had to carry both of them.

I cooked up my dinner and then went to watch the sunset at the far end of the beach, down the far end you could pick up the first signal I had seen the past 3 days so that was good.

DAY FOUR – FINAL PUSH

The next morning I woke up early and dismantled my tent before heading off at 7am, as I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to arrive at the end of the track and I had a shuttle bus booked at 12:50pm. I headed off through bush and along the rugged coastline of the West Coast, there are so many lovely and deserted beaches along this 16.2km walk to the finish.

I sat and ate an early lunch whilst looking out over the ocean. I then continued to the end of the track, checking out some viewpoints and lookouts along the way. I finished with around 1 hour to spare before my shuttle arrived to take me to Westport and to where I would sleep in a bed for the first time in what seemed like a pretty long time.

The past 4 days have been so amazing that I am definitely persuaded and pushing myself to do more multi-day hikes whilst I finish my last few months here in New Zealand. The views and scenery I have seen on this trek are unimaginable and so, so beautiful. I’ve definitely enjoyed every minute even though I’ve come out with a few blisters and hundreds of sand-fly bites.

Now I continue my travels by making my way down the West Coast…

“Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it.”
John Mayer

A short stay in the Golden Bay

January 18, 2020January 18, 2020Tagged archways, beach, cabin, camping, chasingsunsets, clearwater, cooking, farewellsplit, flyingsolo, freedomcamp, hiking, labyrinthrocks, newzealand, noodles, nz, rocks, solotravel, springs, sunset, travel, walking, whararikibeachLeave a comment

I left the orchard in Motueka to go to Takaka about 45 minutes drive towards the Golden Bay area. I got a lift with one of the sellers who has been working on the orchard and selling the produce in Takaka. When we arrived I said goodbye and walked around 35-40 minutes to arrive at the free camp spot at Waitapu Bridge, a beautiful spot next to a river. I set up my tent and relaxed for a while before heading back to town to explore and buy some groceries.

Later when I was in the free camp I heard my name shouted, I looked around to see someone else I had been working with at the orchard who had left 2 days prior to me. I sat down with her and her friends and played a few games of cards.

Later that evening I relaxed and watched the sun set.

I woke at around 3am freezing cold, now when I bought my sleeping bag I opted for the lightest one, as I would be carrying it around a lot with me. Big mistake but oh well, I’ll just have to wear more clothes at night.

I woke up and cooked some noodles for my breakfast before another mistake arose. So the free camp has just toilet facilities with no access to running water, not that I’m complaining mind as I had 2 nights free camping there, but as I cooked my noodles and drank some water I realized I was pretty much empty on the waterfront, I had a small amount left for my morning walk to the springs.

It was only around 1 hours walk each way, and then some more time to walk around the springs, the springs are so beautiful, the water is so clear and mesmerizing. Unfortunately it is prohibited to swim or to even touch the water as it is New Zealand’s largest spring and obviously they don’t want the water tainted with the human touch.

After I returned from the springs, dehydrated with the lack of water, I rested a little before walking into town, at this point I bought another 1L water bottle as I did not want to be in that situation again, I then filled them both before going to the library to book my campsites and shuttles for the Heaphy track.

I returned to the free camp and made sure I was reasonably packed so I could leave the next day.

I was pretty cold again during the night, and I will have to figure something out before I leave for my great walk. Anyhow I awoke, got changed and packed up my tent, I left the free camp around 10:00 and walked over the bridge to the road that heads towards my destination, Wharariki Beach. I’d booked into a campsite for 2 nights at $20 per night. I then started to Hitchhike hoping to get as far as I could. I was only waiting for around 15-20 minutes before a couple from the Netherlands picked me up and took me all the way there, which was amazing. Once I arrived I waited until check in at 12pm and then once again pitched my tent, ate some lunch and then went to explore.

From the campsite the beach is around 20 minutes walk, it’s a pleasant walk with good views the whole way. When you reach the beach it looks amazing, silver sand dunes all over the beach, huge rocks with archways that just look great.

I spent around 2 hours here, the wind was pretty violent and sprayed sand almost constantly in my direction. I wandered around and even found a place where there was some 3G but then the wind picked up more than it was before and I got a whole face full of sand, which blinded me temporarily. I then began to walk back to the campsite and rested there. I showered, recharged my electrical appliances and began writing this blog. There is little Internet here; there is Wi-Fi available but at what seems like a huge cost, 100mb for $10.00. So I will just learn to live without for the next 2 days.

The next day I took a walk to farewell spit, it was a pleasant walk and only 7km to the spit and around 10km to walk around the track. You can’t go on some of the spit as it is protected and you can only access these areas on the guided tours. It was a lovely walk, again the sand dunes looked so beautiful and stretched really far across the beach. I intended to walk back across the hills and past a lighthouse but after walking around 17km already I was pretty tired and hitchhiked back to the campsite.

The next morning I left at around 08:45 and started walking towards the main road, the first car I saw, I held up my thumb and fortunately I got a ride about a third of the way, after I was dropped off I waited around 30 minutes and was picked up and taken another third of the way, and then eventually got back to Takaka on my 3^rd and final pick-up. When I arrived, I went to a campsite and saw they had cabins available, to which I jumped at the chance as the weather forecast looked rainy for the next 2 days and I didn’t want to get my tent wet before I start New Zealand’s longest Great Walk.

My final day before leaving Takaka, I visited a local tourist attraction called Labyrinth Rocks and spent some time finding my way through the maze of rocks before heading back into town to buy the last bits I needed for my trip. I also bought some long underwear to hopefully solve my problem with waking up cold in my tent every morning.

“Mistakes are sometimes the best memories”
Unknown

Staying at Nev and Debs

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019Tagged airbnb, beach, cabin, cosy, hiking, journey, kitchen, mountmaunganui, newzealand, papamoabeach, patio, sanddunes, shower, summit, sunset, town, travel, traveller, views, volcano, walkingLeave a comment

So, I’m not in Auckland any more, I’ve ventured down to the Bay of Plenty, I plan to get work here in the next few days.

I’ve been staying in an Airbnb the last few days on Papamoa Beach,

It’s a lovely cabin at the bottom of Nev and Debs garden, with a really cool set up; inside the cabin there is a very comfortable queen sized bed, TV, desk and chair, shelves and hanging space for clothes, a toilet and sink, a radiator and a very comfy chair.

Leaving the cabin and walking to the left over the paved stepping-stones to the covered patio area, almost seems as that’s all there is, but behind, hidden from view, behind the dining area, there’s a corrugated metal shed, inside of which is pretty much a full kitchen with all the amenities you could need.

To the left of this, a few meters away is an outdoor shower, now before you turn up your nose at this, it is actually very nice, the hot water pretty much cycles through straight away, the water pressure is pretty decent and once your inside it gets pretty warm, such a nice and different twist. There is also a strong connection to WIFI.

What did i spend my few days doing?

On my arrival I unpacked what I needed and set out to have a look around, I crossed the road, clambered over the dunes and looked out at the sea, I walked for about 15 minutes down the beach taking everything in, until I crossed back over the dunes and went into Papamoa Plaza for some shopping and something to eat.

It was raining on Sunday so I decided to wait for it to calm down before I left. Nev and Debs house is literally over the road from the beach. I started walking down the beach, it was so peaceful and the sounds of the waves are extremely relaxing, Its really good to relax and think. I walked for just under 1½ hours, it started to rain halfway for around 10-15 minute and then stopped and the sun came back out. When I had walked as far as I could, I left the beach and went to look around the Bayfair shopping mall, had an early tea and got the bus back to Papamoa Beach.

I asked Nev if he knew a good place in which I could hire a bike, he then offered me his, to borrow, how accommodating is that? I took him up on his offer, He also lent me a lock and a helmet (not something I’d usually wear but it’ll make my mum happy). On Monday I used the bike and cycled from Papamoa Beach to Mount Maunganui. I locked up the Bike and begin my ascent to the summit of the extinct volcano. Some parts of the track were pretty steep and rather strenuous to walk up. The sun was beating down, I refrained from stopping and resting on the many benches littered among the track as I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up and get going again after a break. When I made it to the top I was exhausted, I sat at the top for around 10 minutes before taking some shots of the beautiful views. I spent the rest of the day climbing up and down around the rocks on Moturiki Island.

Relaxing at the summit overlooking the bay

Check out was at 10:00am on Tuesday, I had a lie-in in the morning, showered and then packed up my gear and checked out, I’m pretty sure I will come back and stay here when I need to wind down after a few months in a hostel. Im now staying in Mount Maunganui and hoping to get a job soon.