“Intermezzo”

Dec. 19...

I can hardly keep up with the blog. This "trail" is hard work in many aspects. It is not a ready-made route through New Zealand; it is more of an "orientation." (And it is hard 🙃.)

Often, my days start very early. Whether I am in the tent or not, I usually prepare my breakfast around 4:45 am. Until I am ready to walk, it is at least 6 am.

The days are long, walking for hours. I usually only take short breaks. My body feels best if it gets some food every two hours, so if possible, I have short breaks then.

Upon arriving at the day's destination, there is a lot to do: find a suitable tent spot, set up the tent, unpack the backpack, organize everything in the tent, blow up the mattress, unpack the quilt (kind of a sleeping bag), and blow up the pillow. Then find a place to wash myself, have a bath in a cold river or use some other water source. If there is nothing suitable, I use wet wipes. If I stay at a motel, it is just using the shower.

Most days, shoes and hiking clothes need a rinse too. They might get dry or not.

After all that, it is time to prepare dinner and eat. At that time, I am already more than tired and exhausted.

But there is planning to do: checking out the next day, including weather (if there is mobile reception), kilometers to walk, elevation profile, tides to be aware of, mud sections, unexpected challenges, etc. According to that, I organize my starting time and snacks for the day.

Most days, I am so exhausted I can hardly talk or write a note about the day so that I remember some things when I find time to write for the blog.

But the big work is working out the next sections. As I wrote in the beginning, this trail is not ready-made. We have to check what is ahead for the next few days, then read about those sections. Often sections are closed due to hazards or disputes with landowners. Many sections are not advised to be walked in bad weather conditions; rain is enough for that. In those cases, we have to find alternates, figure out the kilometers and how long it will take to walk, then look for possible accommodation. That is another time-consuming factor. There is no freedom camping in the North Island, and there is not much or no accommodation in most parts that we walk. So we have to carefully plan our days and are often forced to do more kilometers than might be comfortable, just to get to some accommodation.

In December, there is a part to be done by canoeing on a river and a mountain bike trail to ride. Also, for that, a lot of logistics have to be planned.

This usually takes all the little time left after arriving at the day's destination and having done all chores. And usually, the planning for the next section stretches over several days since it is very time-consuming, and many factors have to be considered and worked out.

So far, we took 3x 2 days off. But those days are not really "off." The first day is usually about resupply, eating, doing laundry and planning, booking accommodations, etc. The second day still involves planning, eating, getting prepared for the next section, maybe sleeping due to tiredness, and then I try to squeeze in some more blog writing.

So, in conclusion: this trail is hard work, leading to hardly being able to write for the blog and causing delays. 🙄🤷🏻‍♀️🙂

- by the way: thank you for your comments and emails. I love to find them. They always give some energy bursts and that is what I need: a lot of energy! 🙂