Te Araroa Pt. 6

Day 15

Day 15, 2 Dec 17

At Sheryl's place now. Slightly cold. Kayaked for about half an afternoon from Paihia to Waikare. It was an alright journey, with a few minor hiccups.

It's pretty late now. Tomorrow will start off a few more days of walking. I guess I should go alone, because this company seems really weak if I may say so. They would hitchhike simply because of the lack of good views, or because it is road, or some such excuse. Well I hope I stay true to my intentions. If you bein taking shortcuts on one section then you will quickly find yourself sucked into the vortex. What's the difference if I don't walk this boring section of road? Well what's the difference if you do? I have already hitched a small section. I hope that will be the last. I will make sure that it is the last.

Well here is a Kawakawa leaf that Sheryl gave me. Hope it doesn't get lost somewhere, I just put it on the side of the page. It doesn't smell or look very special, but is supposed to possess healing properties.

Alright. Getting late now. There's some loud music in the distance. I met quite some people in NZ that have talked about social problems that a normal tourist would not notice, and quite a few of them think conscription (like they had in the past) would help a lot.

Day 16

Day 16, 3 Dec 17

Helena Bay. A kind man allowed me to camp in front of his house and gave me some water as well. They also have a pet sheep. ._.

Todayinvolved being in wet shoe A kind man allowed me to camp in front of his house and gave me some water as well. They also have a pet sheep. ._.

Today involved being in wet shoes. Walked for about 4km or more in a river, then got very lost, bashed right through the forest to find the trail again. On my way I got poked and pricked by a spiteful plant. After that was road. I can see why people hate road walking now. The sun was beating down my back, drivers threatened to beat my back, and I was already really wet and tired.

On my way I contemplated the reasons why I put myself through all this. Through this pain I must find meaning. I thought that the universe must have more pain than joy and we must be able to accept pain to live. But I now think that is wrong, because the lack of pain is can be joy. After I pitched my tent and ate my dinner, I am now happy. And therefore I am not here to suffer through ordeals and find some abstract meaning, I am here truly to enjoy myself. Oragnisms through the avoidance of pain and stimuli causing pain can also be thought of as seeking pleasure; this pleasure I refer to is not a hedonistic pleasure but the joy which I described above.

Day 17

Day 17, 4 Dec 17

Too busy being tired to write.

The entire day was a reenactment of Sisyphus. Going up, then down, then up, then down. Got really frustrated really quickly. Why go up if you're just going to come down?

After this was me being glad that I was going to reach the campsite. Now life wouldn't be this easy -- I got lost in the plantation and went to some farm and had to bash all around the fence. At this point I was really frustrated. Stepped in some deep muddy pool probably filled with shit, finally decided to just jump over the fence. If someone comes I'll just show them the shit on my boots and trousers.

Today a bee got stuck in some spiderwebs that accumulated on my pants. I tried to save it but it will most likely be dead by now. That was really sad. Many animals die from hunger, thirst, predation, but this was simply a pointless death. The poor bee died for nothing, because of nothing. It simply got stucked in something completely random, struggled, and it will eventually die. This shows the fragility of life. This is why we must live our lives with meaning. Even though the bee may have died a meaningless death, but it definitely lived a meaningful life. And we must do the same. Treat the next moment as a gift because it may always be your last.

Day 18, 5 Dec 17

Had to stop because it was getting dark, so I'm writing this on the next day.

After the previous day I was already half broken. But I had to keep going so I struggled up and moved off. The first section was pretty brilliant. Big rolling waves smashed against cliffs and promontories. And the path was wide, scenic, and despite the occasional climb, fairly comfortable. Following this was just road. Pretty boring. Stopped for a long break at a time. The road led to Matapouri where I had some lousy lunch and a ton of milk. They wrapped my fish and chips in newspapers! How absurd!

Next was a graveyard of pine trees. The markers were pretty oddly placed, and after getting lost a little I finally re-entered the bush. I got quite frustrated in here because I really have a great dislike for undulating bushwalks now. But maybe also because I was ridiculously tired and my hips were slowing me down. Time passed slowly. I moved slowly. Finally I reached Nguruguru. I like to just call it gulugulu. Got slightly confused with the street signs, bought food, took a boat ride across the estuary, and now I'm here.

Thoughts

This section is actually a piece of cake compared to the Northland Forests. The only thing is that the distanced are more uneven, the directions a little odd at times, and the lack of cover. By lack of cover I mean the sun constantly being maxed out slamming against your face. Sometimes I would even run out of water, and that's quite an achievement because I bring 6L of water with me. Also, milk is not a viable substitute for water, as I found out. It just makes it worse.

Also met this guy that basically hitched everything on the road, and got some hate going for such behavior. I tried my best to live by my principle of doing everything on foot. Those sections that could not be done on foot or were simply stupid to do on foot I will ignore, bu no exceptions for everything else. I managed to hold out for quite long, I'm happy to say.

I would also like to lodge a formal complaint against that shop owner that put my fish and chips on newspapers. That is just stupid and disgusting. I would recommend anyone to not stop by these road side cafes and stalls because most of the time they are ridiculously overpriced and I have always not been particularly impressed with them, as they usually don't live up to their reputation.